Techniques for contending for access to channels of a shared radio frequency spectrum band for broadcast/multicast transmissions

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described for wireless communications. One method includes determining a contention window size for a first broadcast transmission or a first multicast transmission on at least one channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, where the first broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission is targeted for a first plurality of UEs, and contending for access to the at least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for the first broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission based at least in part on the determined contention window size. In some cases, the first broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission may be an example of a multipoint transmission, which may include a coordinated multipoint transmission.

CROSS REFERENCES

The present Application for Patent is a Divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/244,662 by Zhang et al., “TECHNIQUES FORCONTENDING FOR ACCESS TO CHANNELS OF A SHARED RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUMBAND FOR BROADCAST/MULTICAST TRANSMISSIONS” filed Aug. 23, 2016, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/217,607 byZhang et al., entitled “TECHNIQUES FOR CONTENDING FOR ACCESS TO CHANNELSOF A SHARED RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM BAND FOR BROADCAST/MULTICASTTRANSMISSIONS,” filed Sep. 11, 2015, assigned to the assignee hereof,which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure, for example, relates to wireless communicationsystems, and more particularly to techniques for contending for accessto channels of a shared radio frequency spectrum band for multipoint(e.g., broadcast/multicast) transmissions.

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, andpower). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA)systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, andorthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.

By way of example, a wireless multiple-access communications system mayinclude a number of base stations, each simultaneously supportingcommunication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known asuser equipment (UE) devices. A base station may communicate with UEs ondownlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base station to a UE)and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a basestation).

Some modes of communication may enable communications between a basestation and a UE over a shared radio frequency spectrum band, or overdifferent radio frequency spectrum bands (e.g., a dedicated radiofrequency spectrum band and a shared radio frequency spectrum band) of acellular network. With increasing data traffic in cellular networks thatuse a dedicated (e.g., licensed) radio frequency spectrum band,offloading of at least some data traffic to a shared radio frequencyspectrum band may provide a cellular operator with opportunities forenhanced data transmission capacity. A shared radio frequency spectrumband may also provide service in areas where access to a dedicated radiofrequency spectrum band is unavailable. The types of transmissions thatmay be offloaded to (or transmitted on) a shared radio frequencyspectrum band may include unicast transmissions, multipointtransmissions, broadcast transmissions, or multicast transmissions.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure, for example, relates to techniques forcontending for access to channels of a shared radio frequency spectrumband for multipoint (e.g., broadcast/multicast) transmissions. In someexamples, the multipoint transmissions may be or include broadcasttransmissions, multicast transmissions, coordinated multipoint (CoMP)transmissions, or a combination thereof. Before communicating over achannel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, a transmittingapparatus may perform a Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) procedure to gainaccess to the channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band. Suchan LBT procedure may include performing a clear channel assessment (CCA)procedure or extended CCA (eCCA) procedure, to determine whether achannel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available. Whenit is determined that the channel of the shared radio frequency spectrumband is available, a preamble including a channel reservation signal(e.g., a channel usage beacon signal (CUBS)) may be transmitted toreserve the channel. When it is determined that the channel is notavailable, a CCA procedure or eCCA procedure may be performed for thechannel again at a later time.

A CCA procedure or eCCA procedure may be performed during a contentionwindow. In some examples, the size of a contention window used tocontend for access to a channel may be adjusted based onacknowledgements (ACKs) or non-acknowledgements (NAKs) of the packets ofprior transmissions on the channel. However, in the case of multipointtransmissions (e.g., broadcast transmissions, multicast transmissions)over a shared radio frequency spectrum band, such ACKs or NAKs may notbe transmitted or received. The present disclosure describes techniquesfor determining the size of a contention window in the absence of suchpacket-level ACKs or NAKs. The present disclosure also describestechniques for contending for access to the channels of a shared radiofrequency spectrum band for parallel transmissions of multipoint (e.g.,broadcast/multicast) transmissions and unicast transmissions.

In one example, a method for wireless communication is described. Themethod may include determining a contention window size for a firstbroadcast transmission or a first multicast transmission on at least onechannel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, where the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission is targetedfor a first plurality of UEs, and contending for access to the at leastone channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission based atleast in part on the determined contention window size. In someexamples, the first multipoint transmission may be a coordinatedmultipoint transmission.

In some examples, the method may include determining a load on the atleast one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, and thecontention window size may be determined based at least in part on thedetermined load. In some examples, the method may include multiplexingat least one unicast transmission with the first broadcast transmissionor the first multicast transmission on the at least one channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, and identifying at least one ofACKs or NAKs received for the at least one unicast transmission. Inthese examples, the contention window size may be determined based atleast in part on the ACKs or NAKs identified for the at least oneunicast transmission.

In some examples, the method may include receiving, from each UE of asecond plurality of UEs, a UE reception status of a second broadcasttransmission or a second multicast transmission on the at least onechannel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, where the secondbroadcast transmission or the second multicast transmission istransmitted before the first broadcast transmission or the firstmulticast transmission and targeted for the second plurality of UEs. Inthese examples, the contention window size may be determined based atleast in part on the UE reception statuses. In some examples, each UEreception status of the second broadcast transmission or the secondmulticast transmission may include a UE block error rate (BLER) for thesecond broadcast transmission or the second multicast transmission. Insome examples, the method may include receiving identifications ofbroadcast services of interest from each UE of at least the secondplurality of UEs, identifying the second plurality of UEs from thereceived identifications, and triggering the second plurality of UEs totransmit the UE reception statuses for the second broadcast transmissionor the second multicast transmission. In some examples, the firstplurality of UEs and the second plurality of UEs may include a sameplurality of UEs or different pluralities of UEs.

In some examples, the at least one channel may include at least a firstchannel and a second channel, and the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission may include a multiple channelbroadcast transmission or a multiple channel multicast transmission overat least the first channel and the second channel. In some examples, themethod may include identifying a plurality of ACKs or NAKs correspondingto at least one unicast transmission, where the at least one unicasttransmission is transmitted on one or more of a plurality of channels ofthe shared radio frequency spectrum band, and where the plurality ofchannels include the at least one channel on which the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission is transmitted. Inthese examples, the contention window size may be determined based atleast in part on the plurality of ACKs or NAKs. In some examples, thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission mayinclude a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN)transmission, a single cell enhanced multimedia broadcast multicastservices (eMBMS) transmission, a single cell point to multipoint(SC-PTM) transmission, or a combination thereof.

In one example, an apparatus for wireless communication is described.The apparatus may include means for determining a contention window sizefor a first broadcast transmission or a first multicast transmission onat least one channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, wherethe first broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission istargeted for a first plurality of UEs, and means for contending foraccess to the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band for the first broadcast transmission or the firstmulticast transmission based at least in part on the determinedcontention window size. In some examples, the first multipointtransmission may be a coordinated multipoint transmission.

In some examples, the apparatus may include means for determining a loadon the at least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band,and the contention window size may be determined based at least in parton the determined load. In some examples, the apparatus may includemeans for multiplexing at least one unicast transmission with the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission on the atleast one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, and meansfor identifying at least one of ACKs or NAKs received for the at leastone unicast transmission. In these examples, the contention window sizemay be determined based at least in part on the ACKs or NAKs identifiedfor the at least one unicast transmission.

In some examples, the apparatus may include means for receiving, fromeach UE of a second plurality of UEs, a UE reception status of a secondbroadcast transmission or a second multicast transmission on the atleast one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, where thesecond broadcast transmission or the second multicast transmission istransmitted before the first broadcast transmission or the firstmulticast transmission and targeted for the second plurality of UEs. Inthese examples, the contention window size may be determined based atleast in part on the UE reception statuses. In some examples, each UEreception status of the second broadcast transmission or the secondmulticast transmission may include a UE BLER for the second broadcasttransmission or the second multicast transmission. In some examples, theapparatus may include means for receiving identifications of broadcastservices of interest from each UE of at least the second plurality ofUEs, means for identifying the second plurality of UEs from the receivedidentifications, and means for triggering the second plurality of UEs totransmit the UE reception statuses for the second broadcast transmissionor the second multicast transmission. In some examples, the firstplurality of UEs and the second plurality of UEs may include a sameplurality of UEs or different pluralities of UEs.

In some examples, the at least one channel may include at least a firstchannel and a second channel, and the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission may include a multiple channelbroadcast transmission or a multiple channel multicast transmission overat least the first channel and the second channel. In some examples, theapparatus may include means for identifying a plurality of ACKs or NAKscorresponding to at least one unicast transmission, where the at leastone unicast transmission is transmitted on one or more of a plurality ofchannels of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, and where theplurality of channels include the at least one channel on which thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission istransmitted. In these examples, the contention window size may bedetermined based at least in part on the plurality of ACKs or NAKs. Insome examples, the first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMStransmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

In one example, another apparatus for wireless communication isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, and memory inelectronic communication with the processor. The processor and thememory may be configured to determine a contention window size for afirst broadcast transmission or a first multicast transmission on atleast one channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, where thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission istargeted for a first plurality of UEs, and to contend for access to theat least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission basedat least in part on the determined contention window size.

In some examples, the processor and the memory may be configured todetermine a load on the at least one channel of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band, and the contention window size may bedetermined based at least in part on the determined load. In someexamples, the processor and the memory may be configured to multiplex atleast one unicast transmission with the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission on the at least one channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, and identify at least one of ACKsor NAKs received for the at least one unicast transmission. In theseexamples, the contention window size may be determined based at least inpart on the ACKs or NAKs identified for the at least one unicasttransmission. In some examples, the processor and the memory may beconfigured to receive from each UE of a second plurality of UEs, a UEreception status of a second broadcast transmission or a secondmulticast transmission on the at least one channel of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band, where the second broadcast transmission or thesecond multicast transmission is transmitted before the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission and targeted for thesecond plurality of UEs. In these examples, the contention window sizemay be determined based at least in part on the UE reception statuses.

In some examples, the at least one channel may include at least a firstchannel and a second channel, and the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission may include a multiple channelbroadcast transmission or a multiple channel multicast transmission overat least the first channel and the second channel. In some examples, theprocessor and the memory may be configured to identify a plurality ofACKs or NAKs corresponding to at least one unicast transmission, wherethe at least one unicast transmission is transmitted on one or more of aplurality of channels of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, theplurality of channels including the at least one channel on which thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission istransmitted. In these examples, the contention window size may bedetermined based at least in part on the plurality of ACKs or NAKs. Insome examples, the first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMStransmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

In some examples, the code may be executable by the processor toreceive, from each UE of a second plurality of UEs, a UE receptionstatus of a second broadcast transmission or a second multicasttransmission on the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band, where the second broadcast transmission or the secondmulticast transmission is transmitted before the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission and targeted for thesecond plurality of UEs. In these examples, the contention window sizemay be determined based at least in part on the UE reception statuses.In some examples, the first broadcast transmission or the firstmulticast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single celleMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

In one example, a method for wireless communication at a UE isdescribed. The method may include receiving an indication to transmit aUE reception status of a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission targeted for a plurality of UEs, receiving the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission on at least one channel of ashared radio frequency spectrum band, and transmitting the UE receptionstatus of the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission basedat least in part on the received indication.

In some examples, the UE reception status of the broadcast transmissionor the multicast transmission may include a UE BLER for the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission. In some examples, the atleast one channel may include at least a first channel and a secondchannel, and the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmissionmay include a multiple channel broadcast transmission or a multiplechannel multicast transmission over at least the first channel and thesecond channel. In some examples, the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single celleMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

In one example, an apparatus for wireless communication at a UE isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for receiving an indicationto transmit a UE reception status of a broadcast transmission or amulticast transmission targeted for a plurality of UEs, means forreceiving the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission on atleast one channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, and meansfor transmitting the UE reception status of the broadcast transmissionor the multicast transmission based at least in part on the receivedindication.

In some examples, the UE reception status of the broadcast transmissionor the multicast transmission may include a UE BLER for the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission. In some examples, the atleast one channel may include at least a first channel and a secondchannel, and the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmissionmay include a multiple channel broadcast transmission or a multiplechannel multicast transmission over at least the first channel and thesecond channel. In some examples, the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single celleMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

In one example, another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, and memory inelectronic communication with the processor. The processor and thememory may be configured to receive an indication to transmit a UEreception status of a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmissiontargeted for a plurality of UEs, to receive the broadcast transmissionor the multicast transmission on at least one channel of a shared radiofrequency spectrum band, and to transmit the UE reception status of thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission based at least inpart on the received indication.

In some examples, the UE reception status of the broadcast transmissionor the multicast transmission may include a UE BLER for the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission. In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof.

In one example, another method for wireless communication is described.The method may include identifying at least a first channel of aplurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrum band fortransmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmissiontargeted for a plurality of UEs, and a second channel of the pluralityof channels for transmitting a first unicast transmission. The methodmay also include contending for access to at least the first channelbased at least in part on a first timing of a broadcastresynchronization boundary, and contending for access to the secondchannel.

In some examples, the method may include winning contention for accessto at least the first channel based at least in part on a second timingof the contending for access to the second channel, and transmitting thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission at a broadcasttransmission time upon the winning contention for access to at least thefirst channel, the broadcast transmission time occurring a predeterminedtime after the broadcast resynchronization boundary. In some examples,the contending for access to the second channel may be performedindependently of the contending for access to at least the firstchannel.

In some examples, the method may include determining the contending foraccess to the second channel is successfully completed within athreshold time prior to the broadcast resynchronization boundary, andperforming a CCA procedure for the second channel just prior to thebroadcast resynchronization boundary. In some examples, the method mayinclude winning contention for access to the second channel andtransmitting the first unicast transmission based at least in part onsuccessfully performing the CCA procedure, and transmitting the firstunicast transmission at the broadcast transmission time uponsuccessfully performing the CCA procedure.

In some examples, the method may include stopping a second unicasttransmission on the second channel at a threshold time before thebroadcast resynchronization boundary, and performing the contending foraccess to the second channel upon stopping the second unicasttransmission. In some examples, the method may include determining thecontending for access to at least the first channel is successfullycompleted before completing the contending for access to the secondchannel, and performing a CCA procedure for at least the first channelat a predetermined time between the timing of the broadcastresynchronization boundary and the broadcast transmission time. In someexamples, the method may include winning contention for access to atleast the first channel based at least in part on successfullyperforming the CCA procedure.

In one example, another apparatus for wireless communication isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for identifying at least afirst channel of a plurality of channels of a shared radio frequencyspectrum band for transmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission targeted for a plurality of UEs, and a second channel ofthe plurality of channels for transmitting a first unicast transmission.The apparatus may also include means for contending for access to atleast the first channel based at least in part on a first timing of abroadcast resynchronization boundary, and means for contending foraccess to the second channel.

In some examples, the apparatus may include means for winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel based at least in part on asecond timing of the contending for access to the second channel, andmeans for transmitting the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission at a broadcast transmission time upon winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel, the broadcast transmissiontime occurring a predetermined time after the broadcastresynchronization boundary. In some examples, the contending for accessto the second channel may be performed independently of the contendingfor access to at least the first channel.

In some examples, the apparatus may include means for determining thecontending for access to the second channel is successfully completedwithin a threshold time prior to the broadcast resynchronizationboundary, and means for performing a CCA procedure for the secondchannel just prior to the broadcast resynchronization boundary. In someexamples, the apparatus may include means for winning contention foraccess to the second channel and transmitting the first unicasttransmission based at least in part on successfully performing the CCAprocedure, and means for transmitting the first unicast transmission atthe broadcast transmission time upon successfully performing the CCAprocedure.

In some examples, the apparatus may include means for stopping a secondunicast transmission on the second channel at a threshold time beforethe broadcast resynchronization boundary, and means for performing thecontending for access to the second channel upon stopping the secondunicast transmission. In some examples, the apparatus may include meansfor determining the contending for access to at least the first channelis successfully completed before completing the contending for access tothe second channel, and means for performing a CCA procedure for atleast the first channel at a predetermined time between the timing ofthe broadcast resynchronization boundary and the broadcast transmissiontime. In some examples, the apparatus may include means for winningcontention for access to at least the first channel based at least inpart on successfully performing the CCA procedure.

In one example, another apparatus for wireless communication isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, and memory inelectronic communication with the processor. The processor and thememory may be configured to identify at least a first channel of aplurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrum band fortransmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmissiontargeted for a plurality of UEs, and a second channel of the pluralityof channels for transmitting a first unicast transmission. The processorand the memory may also be configured to contend for access to at leastthe first channel based at least in part on a first timing of abroadcast resynchronization boundary, and to contend for access to thesecond channel.

In some examples, the processor and the memory may be configured to wincontention for access to at least the first channel based at least inpart on a second timing of the contending for access to the secondchannel, and to transmit the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission at a broadcast transmission time upon winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel, the broadcast transmissiontime occurring a predetermined time after the broadcastresynchronization boundary. In some examples, the processor and thememory may be configured to determine the contending for access to thesecond channel is successfully completed within a threshold time priorto the broadcast resynchronization boundary, and to perform a CCAprocedure for the second channel just prior to the broadcastresynchronization boundary. In some examples, the processor and thememory may be configured to stop a second unicast transmission on thesecond channel at a threshold time before the broadcastresynchronization boundary; and to perform the contending for access tothe second channel upon stopping the second unicast transmission. Insome examples, the processor and the memory may be configured todetermine the contending for access to at least the first channel issuccessfully completed before completing the contending for access tothe second channel, and to perform a CCA procedure for at least thefirst channel at a predetermined time between the timing of thebroadcast resynchronization boundary and the broadcast transmissiontime.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the techniques and technicaladvantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionaltechniques and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of theconcepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method ofoperation, together with associated advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose ofillustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits ofthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In theappended figures, similar components or functions may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a wireless communication system in which LTE/LTE-A may bedeployed under different scenarios using a shared radio frequencyspectrum band, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a timeline of contending for access to at least one channelof a shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a first multipoint transmission (e.g., first broadcasttransmission or first multicast transmission) and a second multipointtransmission (e.g., second broadcast transmission or second multicasttransmission), in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a timeline of contending for access to a first channel of ashared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting amultipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission), and contending for access to a second channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting afirst unicast transmission, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a timeline of contending for access to a first channel of ashared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting amultipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission), and contending for access to a second channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting afirst unicast transmission, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a timeline of contending for access to a first channel of ashared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting amultipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission), and contending for access to a second channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting afirst unicast transmission, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a timeline of contending for access to a first channel of ashared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting amultipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission), and contendingfor access to a second channel of the shared radio frequency spectrumband, for the purpose of transmitting a first unicast transmission, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of a base station (e.g., a base stationforming part or all of an eNB) for use in wireless communication, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of a UE for use in wireless communication,in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 24 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques are described in which a shared radio frequency spectrum bandis used for at least a portion of communications over a wirelesscommunication system. In some examples, the shared radio frequencyspectrum band may be used for Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced(LTE-A) communications. The shared radio frequency spectrum band may beused in combination with, or independent from, a dedicated radiofrequency spectrum band. The dedicated radio frequency spectrum band mayinclude a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmittingapparatuses may not contend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrumband licensed to unique users for unique uses, such as a licensed radiofrequency spectrum band usable for LTE/LTE-A communications). The sharedradio frequency spectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrumband for which transmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, suchas Wi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for useby different radio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for use by multiple operators in an equallyshared or prioritized manner).

In some examples, a shared radio frequency spectrum band may be used formultipoint transmissions (e.g., broadcast transmissions, multicasttransmissions, CoMP transmissions), such as MBSFN transmissions, singlecell eMBMS transmissions, SC-PTM transmissions, or a combinationthereof. Single frequency network (SFN) transmissions using eMBMS (e.g.,MBSFN transmissions) can achieve high broadcast capacity, with aplurality of nodes (e.g., base stations) transmitting the same contentin a synchronous fashion. Single cell eMBMS transmissions or SC-PTMtransmissions can also achieve high broadcast capacity, and can save anode from having to repeatedly transmit the same content to multipleUEs.

When multipoint transmissions (e.g., broadcast transmissions, multicasttransmissions) are made in a shared radio frequency spectrum band bymultiple nodes, the nodes making the transmissions may be synchronized(or resynchronized) by synchronizing the performance of LBT proceduresat the nodes. After performing the LBT procedures, some of the nodes maygain access to one or more channels of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band, and other nodes may not gain access to the shared radiofrequency spectrum band (e.g., because of local interference). In someexamples, the nodes may include small cells, and broadcast/multicasttransmissions may be made using a normal cyclic prefix (CP). In thepresent disclosure, description relating to techniques and methodsassociated with at least one broadcast transmission or at least onemulticast transmission may also relate to at least one multipointtransmission. In some examples, description relating to techniques andmethods associated with at least one broadcast transmission or at leastone multicast transmission may relate to at least one CoMP transmission.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of thescope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit,substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. Forinstance, the methods described may be performed in an order differentfrom that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may becombined in other examples.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 100, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wirelesscommunication system 100 may include base stations 105, UEs 115, and acore network 130. The core network 130 may provide user authentication,access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, andother access, routing, or mobility functions. The base stations 105 mayinterface with the core network 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g.,S1, etc.) and may perform radio configuration and scheduling forcommunication with the UEs 115, or may operate under the control of abase station controller (not shown). In various examples, the basestations 105 may communicate, either directly or indirectly (e.g.,through core network 130), with each other over backhaul links 134(e.g., X1, etc.), which may be wired or wireless communication links.

The base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 115 viaone or more base station antennas. Each of the base station 105 sitesmay provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coveragearea 110. In some examples, a base station 105 may be referred to as abase transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, orsome other suitable terminology. The geographic coverage area 110 for abase station 105 may be divided into sectors making up a portion of thecoverage area (not shown). The wireless communication system 100 mayinclude base stations 105 of different types (e.g., macro or small cellbase stations). There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110for different technologies.

In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include anLTE/LTE-A network. In LTE/LTE-A networks, the term evolved Node B (eNB)may be used to describe the base stations 105, while the term UE may beused to describe the UEs 115. The wireless communication system 100 maybe a Heterogeneous LTE/LTE-A network in which different types of eNBsprovide coverage for various geographical regions. For example, each eNBor base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell,a small cell, or other types of cell. The term “cell” is a 3GPP termthat can be used to describe a base station, a carrier or componentcarrier associated with a base station, or a coverage area (e.g.,sector, etc.) of a carrier or base station, depending on context.

A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., severalkilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs withservice subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell may be alower-powered base station, as compared with a macro cell that mayoperate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, shared, etc.) radiofrequency spectrum bands as macro cells. Small cells may include picocells, femto cells, and micro cells according to various examples. Apico cell may cover a relatively smaller geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the networkprovider. A femto cell also may cover a relatively small geographic area(e.g., a home) and may provide restricted access by UEs having anassociation with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group(CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like). An eNB for a macro cellmay be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may bereferred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB or a home eNB.An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and thelike) cells (e.g., component carriers).

The wireless communication system 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations mayhave similar frame timing, and transmissions from different basestations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronousoperation, the base stations may have different frame timing, andtransmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time.The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous orasynchronous operations.

The communication networks that may accommodate some of the variousdisclosed examples may be packet-based networks that operate accordingto a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at thebearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based.A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation andreassembly to communicate over logical channels. A Medium Access Control(MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logicalchannels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use Hybrid ARQ(HARD) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve linkefficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC)protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenanceof an RRC connection between a UE 115 and the base stations 105 or corenetwork 130 supporting radio bearers for the user plane data. At thePhysical (PHY) layer, the transport channels may be mapped to Physicalchannels.

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communicationsystem 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 mayalso include or be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobilestation, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, awireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, awireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriberstation, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, aremote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, orsome other suitable terminology. A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wirelesscommunication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, or thelike. A UE may be able to communicate with various types of basestations and network equipment, including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs,relay base stations, and the like.

The communication links 125 shown in wireless communication system 100may include downlink transmissions, from a base station 105 to a UE 115,or uplink transmissions, from a UE 115 to a base station 105. Thedownlink transmissions may also be called forward link transmissions,while the uplink transmissions may also be called reverse linktransmissions.

In some examples, each communication link 125 may include one or morecarriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of multiplesub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of different frequencies) modulatedaccording to the various radio technologies described above. Eachmodulated signal may be sent on a different sub-carrier and may carrycontrol information (e.g., reference signals, control channels, etc.),overhead information, user data, etc. The communication links 125 maytransmit bidirectional communications using a frequency domain duplexing(FDD) operation (e.g., using paired spectrum resources) or a time domainduplexing (TDD) operation (e.g., using unpaired spectrum resources).Frame structures for FDD operation (e.g., frame structure type 1) andTDD operation (e.g., frame structure type 2) may be defined.

In some examples of the wireless communication system 100, base stations105 or UEs 115 may include multiple antennas for employing antennadiversity schemes to improve communication quality and reliabilitybetween base stations 105 and UEs 115. Additionally or alternatively,base stations 105 or UEs 115 may employ multiple-input, multiple-output(MIMO) techniques that may take advantage of multi-path environments totransmit multiple spatial layers carrying the same or different codeddata.

The wireless communication system 100 may support operation on multiplecells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to as carrieraggregation (CA) or dual-connectivity operation. A carrier may also bereferred to as a component carrier (CC), a layer, a channel, etc. Theterms “carrier,” “component carrier,” “cell,” and “channel” may be usedinterchangeably herein. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDDand TDD component carriers.

In an LTE/LTE-A network, a UE 115 may be configured to communicate usingup to five component carriers (CCs) when operating in a carrieraggregation mode or dual-connectivity mode. One or more of the CCs maybe configured as a DL CC, and one or more of the CCs may be configuredas an UL CC. Also, one of the CCs allocated to a UE 115 may beconfigured as a primary CC (PCC), and the remaining CCs allocated to theUE 115 may be configured as secondary CCs (SCCs).

In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may supportoperation over a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a radiofrequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may notcontend for access because the radio frequency spectrum band is licensedto unique users for unique uses (e.g., a licensed radio frequencyspectrum band usable for LTE/LTE-A communications)) or a shared radiofrequency spectrum band (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for use by differentradio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner)). Upon winning a contention for access to a channelof the shared radio frequency spectrum band, a transmitting apparatus(e.g., a base station 105 or UE 115) may transmit a preamble includingone or more CUBS over the channel of the shared radio frequency spectrumband. The CUBS may reserve the channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band by providing a detectable energy on the channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band. The CUBS may also serve toidentify the transmitting apparatus or serve to synchronize thetransmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus. In some examples, atleast one of unicast transmissions, multipoint transmissions, CoMPtransmissions, broadcast transmissions, or multicast transmissions maybe transmitted over the shared radio frequency spectrum band (and alsoover the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band).

FIG. 2 shows a wireless communication system 200 in which LTE/LTE-A maybe deployed under different scenarios using a shared radio frequencyspectrum band, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates examples of asupplemental downlink mode (also referred to as a licensed assistedaccess mode), a carrier aggregation mode, and a standalone mode in whichLTE/LTE-A is deployed using a shared radio frequency spectrum band. Thewireless communication system 200 may be an example of portions of thewireless communication system 100 described with reference to FIG. 1 .Moreover, a first base station 205 and a second base station 205-a maybe examples of aspects of one or more of the base stations 105 describedwith reference to FIG. 1 , while a first UE 215, a second UE 215-a, athird UE 215-b, and a fourth UE 215-c may be examples of aspects of oneor more of the UEs 115 described with reference to FIG. 1 .

In the example of a supplemental downlink mode (e.g., a licensedassisted access mode) in the wireless communication system 200, thefirst base station 205 may transmit OFDMA waveforms to the first UE 215using a downlink channel 220. The downlink channel 220 may be associatedwith a frequency F1 in a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The firstbase station 205 may transmit OFDMA waveforms to the first UE 215 usinga first bidirectional link 225 and may receive SC-FDMA waveforms fromthe first UE 215 using the first bidirectional link 225. The firstbidirectional link 225 may be associated with a frequency F4 in adedicated radio frequency spectrum band. The downlink channel 220 in theshared radio frequency spectrum band and the first bidirectional link225 in the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band may operatecontemporaneously. The downlink channel 220 may provide a downlinkcapacity offload for the first base station 205. In some examples, thedownlink channel 220 may be used for unicast services (e.g., addressedto one UE) or for multicast services (e.g., addressed to several UEs).This scenario may occur with any service provider (e.g., a mobilenetwork operator (MNO)) that uses a dedicated radio frequency spectrumand needs to relieve some of the traffic or signaling congestion.

In one example of a carrier aggregation mode in the wirelesscommunication system 200, the first base station 205 may transmit OFDMAwaveforms to the second UE 215-a using a second bidirectional link 230and may receive OFDMA waveforms, SC-FDMA waveforms, or resource blockinterleaved FDMA waveforms from the second UE 215-a using the secondbidirectional link 230. The second bidirectional link 230 may beassociated with the frequency F1 in the shared radio frequency spectrumband. The first base station 205 may also transmit OFDMA waveforms tothe second UE 215-a using a third bidirectional link 235 and may receiveSC-FDMA waveforms from the second UE 215-a using the third bidirectionallink 235. The third bidirectional link 235 may be associated with afrequency F2 in a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band. The secondbidirectional link 230 may provide a downlink and uplink capacityoffload for the first base station 205. Like the supplemental downlinkmode (e.g., licensed assisted access mode) described above, thisscenario may occur with any service provider (e.g., MNO) that uses adedicated radio frequency spectrum and needs to relieve some of thetraffic or signaling congestion.

In another example of a carrier aggregation mode in the wirelesscommunication system 200, the first base station 205 may transmit OFDMAwaveforms to the third UE 215-b using a fourth bidirectional link 240and may receive OFDMA waveforms, SC-FDMA waveforms, or resource blockinterleaved waveforms from the third UE 215-b using the fourthbidirectional link 240. The fourth bidirectional link 240 may beassociated with a frequency F3 in the shared radio frequency spectrumband. The first base station 205 may also transmit OFDMA waveforms tothe third UE 215-b using a fifth bidirectional link 245 and may receiveSC-FDMA waveforms from the third UE 215-b using the fifth bidirectionallink 245. The fifth bidirectional link 245 may be associated with thefrequency F2 in the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band. The fourthbidirectional link 240 may provide a downlink and uplink capacityoffload for the first base station 205. This example and those providedabove are presented for illustrative purposes and there may be othersimilar modes of operation or deployment scenarios that combineLTE/LTE-A in a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band and use a sharedradio frequency spectrum band for capacity offload.

As described above, one type of service provider that may benefit fromthe capacity offload offered by using LTE/LTE-A in a shared radiofrequency spectrum band is a traditional MNO having access rights to anLTE/LTE-A dedicated radio frequency spectrum band. For these serviceproviders, an operational example may include a bootstrapped mode (e.g.,supplemental downlink, carrier aggregation) that uses the LTE/LTE-A PCCon the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band and at least onesecondary component carrier (SCC) on the shared radio frequency spectrumband.

In the carrier aggregation mode, data and control may, for example, becommunicated in the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., viafirst bidirectional link 225, third bidirectional link 235, and fifthbidirectional link 245) while data may, for example, be communicated inthe shared radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., via second bidirectionallink 230 and fourth bidirectional link 240). The carrier aggregationmechanisms supported when using a shared radio frequency spectrum bandmay fall under a hybrid frequency division duplexing-time divisionduplexing (FDD-TDD) carrier aggregation or a TDD-TDD carrier aggregationwith different symmetry across component carriers.

In one example of a standalone mode in the wireless communication system200, the second base station 205-a may transmit OFDMA waveforms to thefourth UE 215-c using a bidirectional link 250 and may receive OFDMAwaveforms, SC-FDMA waveforms, or resource block interleaved FDMAwaveforms from the fourth UE 215-c using the bidirectional link 250. Thebidirectional link 250 may be associated with the frequency F3 in theshared radio frequency spectrum band. The standalone mode may be used innon-traditional wireless access scenarios, such as in-stadium access(e.g., unicast, multicast). An example of a type of service provider forthis mode of operation may be a stadium owner, cable company, eventhost, hotel, enterprise, or large corporation that does not have accessto a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, a transmitting apparatus such as one of the basestations 105, 205, or 205-a described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 , orone of the UEs 115, 215, 215-a, 215-b, or 215-c described with referenceto FIG. 1 or 2 , may use a gating interval to gain access to a channelof a shared radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., to a physical channelof the shared radio frequency spectrum band). In some examples, thegating interval may be synchronous and periodic. For example, theperiodic gating interval may be synchronized with at least one boundaryof an LTE/LTE-A radio interval. In other examples, the gating intervalmay be asynchronous. The gating interval may define the application of acontention-based protocol, such as an LBT protocol based on the LBTprotocol specified in European Telecommunications Standards Institute(ETSI) (EN 301 893). When using a gating interval that defines theapplication of an LBT protocol, the gating interval may indicate when atransmitting apparatus needs to perform a contention procedure (e.g., anLBT procedure) such as a CCA procedure or an eCCA procedure. The outcomeof the CCA procedure or eCCA procedure may indicate to the transmittingapparatus whether a channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band isavailable or in use for the gating interval (e.g., an LBT radio frame ortransmission burst). When a CCA procedure or eCCA procedure indicatesthe channel is available for a corresponding LBT radio frame ortransmission burst (e.g., “clear” for use), the transmitting apparatusmay reserve or use the channel of the shared radio frequency spectrumband during part or all of the LBT radio frame. When the CCA procedureindicates that the channel is not available (e.g., that the channel isin use or reserved by another transmitting apparatus), the transmittingapparatus may be prevented from using the channel during the LBT radioframe.

After transmitting a unicast transmission on a channel of a shared radiofrequency spectrum band, a transmitting apparatus may receive ACKs orNAKs corresponding to the various packets of the unicast transmission,and may adjust a contention window size for the channel (e.g., thenumber of CCA procedures, or length(s) of one or more CCA procedures,for which the transmitting apparatus needs to determine the channel is“clear” for use before winning contention for access to the channel). Insome examples, the contention window size may be increased uponreceiving one or more NAKs for a unicast transmission, or more than athreshold number of NAKs for the unicast transmission. In some examples,the contention window size may remain the same or be decreased uponreceiving ACKs for all of a unicast transmission's packets.

It would be useful if a transmitting apparatus could adjust thecontention window size for a channel after transmitting a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission. However, ACKs or NAKs are notcurrently transmitted for broadcast transmissions or multicasttransmissions, and information such as a minimization drive test (MDT)report or reception report transmitted for a broadcast transmission maynot be transmitted fast enough for meaningful contention window sizeadjustments (e.g., because such reports are transmitted on anapplication layer). Techniques described in the present disclosure maybe used to adjust a contention window size for a channel, followingtransmission of a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission(e.g., a multipoint transmission) on the channel, based on informationother than ACKs or NAKs corresponding to the packets of the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission.

FIG. 3 shows a timeline 300 of contending for access to at least onechannel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a first multipoint transmission (e.g., first broadcasttransmission or first multicast transmission 305) and a secondmultipoint transmission (e.g., second broadcast transmission or secondmulticast transmission 310), in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. In some examples, the first broadcast transmissionor first multicast transmission 305 may be an example of a multipointtransmission, such as a CoMP transmission. In some examples, the secondbroadcast transmission or second multicast transmission 310 may be anexample of a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMP transmission. Insome examples, the contention for access to the at least one channel ofthe shared radio frequency spectrum band may be performed by a basestation. The base station may be an example of aspects of one or more ofthe base stations 105, 205, or 205-a described with reference to FIG. 1or 2 . In some examples, the first broadcast transmission, the firstmulticast transmission, the second broadcast transmission, or the secondmulticast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single celleMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3 , a base station may contend for access to at least afirst channel (f1) of the shared radio frequency spectrum band fortransmitting the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305. Contention for access to at least the first channelfor transmitting the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 may be performed during a first contention window 315having a first contention window size. In some examples, the basestation may contend for access to the first channel by performing afirst CCA procedure or first eCCA procedure 320 during the firstcontention window 315.

Upon winning contention for access to at least the first channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, the base station may transmit thefirst broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission 305 to afirst set of UEs. Transmission of the first broadcast transmission orfirst multicast transmission 305 may be preceded by transmission of apreamble. Following transmission of the first broadcast transmission orfirst multicast transmission 305, the base station may contend foraccess to at least the first channel for transmitting the secondbroadcast transmission or second multicast transmission 310. Contentionfor access to at least the first channel for transmitting the secondbroadcast transmission or second multicast transmission 310 may beperformed during a second contention window 325 having a secondcontention window size. The second window contention size may be thesame or different compared to the first contention window size. In someexamples, the base station may contend for access to the second channelby performing a second CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 330 duringthe first contention window 315.

Upon winning contention for access to at least the first channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band, the base station may transmit thesecond broadcast transmission or second multicast transmission 310 to asecond set of UEs. Transmission of the second broadcast transmission orsecond multicast transmission 310 may be preceded by transmission of apreamble. In some examples, the second set of UEs may differ from thefirst set of UEs. In some examples, the second set of UEs may includethe same UEs as the first set of UEs.

In some examples, the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 and the second broadcast transmission or secondmulticast transmission 310 may be multiplexed with one or more unicasttransmissions, such as an optional first unicast transmission 335. Insome examples, the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 or the second broadcast transmission or secondmulticast transmission 310 may be transmitted in parallel with one ormore unicast transmissions on other channels (e.g., a second unicasttransmission 340 on a second channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band, or a third unicast transmission 345 on a third channel(f3) of the shared radio frequency spectrum band). In some examples, thefirst broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission 305 or thesecond broadcast transmission or second multicast transmission 310 maybe transmitted on a single channel (e.g., the first channel (f1)). Insome examples, the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 or the second broadcast transmission or secondmulticast transmission 310 may be transmitted on multiple channels(e.g., the first channel (f1) and a fourth channel (f4)). In someexamples, the same broadcast transmission or multicast transmissioncontent may be transmitted on multiple channels to mitigate variablebroadcast transmission gains across the multiple channels and reduce asignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) variation across the multiple channels(which SNR variation may result in contention for access to one or moreof the channels not being won, or one or more of the channels beingassociated with bursty interference).

In some examples, the base station may determine a load on the at leastone channel on which the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 is transmitted, and determine the size of the firstcontention window 315 and/or the second contention window 325 based onthe determined load. In some examples, the load may be determined basedat least in part on an energy level on the first channel or fourthchannel when the base station is not transmitting on the first channelor fourth channel.

In some examples, the base station may identify reception statuses(e.g., at least one of ACKs or NAKs) received for at least one unicasttransmission (e.g., the first unicast transmission 335) multiplexed withthe first broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission 305 orthe second broadcast transmission or second multicast transmission 310,and may determine the size of a contention window (e.g., the secondcontention window 325) based at least in part on the reception statuses(e.g., the ACKs or NAKs) received for the at least one unicasttransmission.

In some examples, the base station may receive identifications ofbroadcast services or multicast services of interest from each UE of atleast a first plurality of UEs, and may identify, from the receivedidentifications, a plurality of UEs interested in a type of serviceassociated with the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 (e.g., the first plurality of UEs). The base stationmay trigger the first plurality of UEs to transmit UE reception statusesfor the first broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission305, and may receive a UE reception status of the first broadcasttransmission or first multicast transmission 305 from each UE of thefirst plurality of UEs. The base station may then determine a size ofthe second contention window 325 based at least in part on the UEreception statuses of the first broadcast transmission or firstmulticast transmission 305. In some examples, a UE reception status ofthe first broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission 305 mayinclude a UE block error rate (BLER) for the first broadcasttransmission or first multicast transmission 305 (or other aggregateindicator of how many packets of the first broadcast transmission orfirst multicast transmission 305 were received). In some examples, a UEreception status of the first broadcast transmission or first multicasttransmission 305 may be received at the base station on an enhancedphysical uplink control channel (ePUCCH), with each UE in the firstplurality of UEs being assigned at least one resource of the ePUCCH. Inother examples, a UE reception status of the first broadcasttransmission or first multicast transmission 305 may be received at thebase station on an enhanced physical uplink shared channel (ePUSCH),with each UE in the first plurality of UEs being assigned at least oneresource of the ePUSCH.

In some examples, broadcast transmissions or multicast transmissions maybe sent in separate LBT bursts from unicast transmissions. In theseexamples, the base station can determine contention window sizes for theLBT bursts including the broadcast transmissions or the multicasttransmissions separately from the contention window sizes for the LBTbursts including the unicast transmissions. In some examples, the basestation can determine a contention window size based on a current LBTburst and use the adjusted contention window size for the next LBTburst, irrespective of whether the next LBT burst is used for broadcasttransmissions, multicast transmissions, or unicast transmissions.

When the first broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission305 includes a multiple channel broadcast transmission or multiplechannel multicast transmission, and in some examples, the base stationmay receive a plurality of ACKs or NAKs corresponding to at least oneunicast transmission transmitted on one or more of a plurality ofchannels of the shared radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., ACKs or NAKscorresponding to the second unicast transmission 340 and the thirdunicast transmission 345). In these examples, the base station maydetermine the size of the second contention window 325 based at least inpart on the plurality of ACKs or NAKs corresponding to the at least oneunicast transmission.

When the first broadcast transmission or first multicast transmission305 is a multiple channel broadcast transmission or multiple channelmulticast transmission, or when the base station transmits at least oneunicast transmission in parallel with the first broadcast transmissionor first multicast transmission 305, a size of the first contentionwindow 315 or the second contention window 325 may be determined for allof the broadcast/multicast channels, or all of the channels over whichthe base station transmits.

When an apparatus (e.g., a base station) contends for access to a firstchannel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band for the purpose oftransmitting a broadcast transmission or multicast transmission,contention for access to the first channel may be won or lost based atleast in part on the apparatus' use of a second channel of the sharedradio frequency spectrum band. In some examples, the second channel maybe used to transmit one or more unicast transmissions. In some examples,the apparatus may use the first channel and the second channel (andcontend for access to the first channel and the second channel)independently (e.g., asynchronously). In these examples, a CCA procedureor an eCCA procedure may be performed for each of the first channel andthe second channel independently. In some examples, the apparatus mayapply a broadcast resynchronization procedure used to contend for accessto the first channel to the second channel (or to all channels), tosynchronize contention for access to the first channel and the secondchannel. In this manner, a transmission on the second channel may besynchronized with a transmission of the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission on the first channel, and the transmission on thesecond channel will not block contention for access to the first channelor transmission of the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission. In some examples, the apparatus may defer the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission for a period of time. In thismanner, the likelihood that contention for access to the second channelwill be successfully completed may be increased, and the likelihood thatthe broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission will block atransmission on the second channel will be decreased.

When the apparatus uses the first channel and the second channelindependently, and contends for access to the first channel and thesecond channel independently, the use of one of the channels (e.g., anin-process transmission on the second channel) may block access to theother channel (e.g., use of the first channel may cause the apparatus tonot win contention for access to the second channel). Winning contentionfor access to one of the channels (e.g., the second channel) before theother channel (e.g., the first channel) may also block access to theother channel (e.g., the first channel).

When the apparatus applies a broadcast resynchronization procedure usedto contend for access to the first channel to the second channel (or toall channels), contention for access to the first channel and the secondchannel may be synchronized. Examples showing how a broadcastresynchronization procedure used to contend for access to a firstchannel may be applied to a second channel are shown with reference toFIG. 4 or 5 .

FIG. 4 shows a timeline 400 of contending for access to a first channelof a shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a multipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission ormulticast transmission 405), and contending for access to a secondchannel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a first unicast transmission 410, in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or multicast transmission 405 may be an exampleof a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMP transmission. In someexamples, the contentions for access to the first channel and the secondchannel may be performed by a base station. The base station may be anexample of aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205, or205-a described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or multicast transmission may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 4 , a base station may contend for access to the firstchannel (f1) based at least in part on a timing T1 of a broadcastresynchronization boundary 415. In some examples, the base station maycontend for access to the first channel by performing a first CCAprocedure or first eCCA procedure 420 during a first time period 425preceding the broadcast resynchronization boundary 415.

By way of example, the base station is shown to finish a second unicasttransmission 430 on the second channel (f2) and contend for access tothe second channel for the first unicast transmission 410 during asecond time period 435. In some examples, the base station may contendfor access to the second channel by performing a second CCA procedure orsecond eCCA procedure 440 during the second time period 435.

As shown, the base station may win contention for access to the secondchannel at a time T2 preceding the timing T1 of the broadcastresynchronization boundary 415. When the time T2 is within a thresholdtime period 445 before the timing T1 of the broadcast resynchronizationboundary 415, the base station may defer commencement of the firstunicast transmission 410 (e.g., remain idle on the second channel for anidle period 475) and perform a third CCA procedure 450 for the secondchannel during a third time period 455, with the third time period 455being just prior to the timing T1 of the broadcast resynchronizationboundary 415. When the first CCA procedure or first eCCA procedure 420performed for the first channel during the first time period 425 and thethird CCA procedure 450 performed for the second channel during thethird time period 455 are both successful, the base station may transmita first preamble 460 on the first channel and a second preamble 465 onthe second channel during a fourth time period 470, and begintransmission of the broadcast transmission or multicast transmission 405on the first channel and the first unicast transmission 410 on thesecond channel at a broadcast transmission time T3. The broadcasttransmission time T3 may occur a predetermined time after the timing T1of the broadcast resynchronization boundary 415. When the first CCAprocedure or first eCCA procedure 420 performed for the first channelduring the first time period 425 is not successful, but the third CCAprocedure 450 performed for the second channel during the third timeperiod 455 is successful, the base station may transmit the secondpreamble 465 on the second channel during the fourth time period 470,and transmit the first unicast transmission 410 on the second channelbeginning at the broadcast transmission time T3. When the first CCAprocedure or first eCCA procedure 420 performed for the first channelduring the first time period 425 is successful, but the third CCAprocedure 450 performed for the second channel during the third timeperiod 455 is not successful, the base station may transmit the firstpreamble 460 on the first channel during the fourth time period 470, andtransmit the broadcast transmission or multicast transmission 405 on thefirst channel beginning at the broadcast transmission time T3.

FIG. 5 shows a timeline 500 of contending for access to a first channelof a shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a multipoint transmission (e.g., a broadcast transmissionor multicast transmission 505), and contending for access to a secondchannel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a first unicast transmission 510, in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or multicast transmission 505 may be an exampleof a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMP transmission. In someexamples, the contentions for access to the first channel and the secondchannel may be performed by a base station. The base station may be anexample of aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205, or205-a described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or multicast transmission 505 may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 5 , a base station may contend for access to the firstchannel (f1) based at least in part on a timing T1 of a broadcastresynchronization boundary 515. In some examples, the base station maycontend for access to the first channel by performing a first CCAprocedure or first eCCA procedure 520 during a first time period 525preceding the broadcast resynchronization boundary 515.

By way of example, the base station is shown to stop a second unicasttransmission 530 on the second channel (f2) at a time T2, and contendfor access to the second channel for the first unicast transmission 510during the first time period 525. In some examples, the base station maycontend for access to the second channel by performing a second CCAprocedure or second eCCA procedure 535 during the first time period 525.

As shown, the base station may win contention for access to the firstchannel and the second channel at the broadcast resynchronizationboundary 515. When the first CCA procedure or first eCCA procedure 520performed for the first channel during the first time period 525 and thesecond CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 535 performed for thesecond channel during the first time period 525 are both successful, thebase station may transmit a first preamble 540 on the first channel anda second preamble 545 on the second channel during a second time period550, and begin transmission of the broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission 505 on the first channel and the first unicast transmission510 on the second channel at a broadcast transmission time T3. Thebroadcast transmission time T3 may occur a predetermined time after thetiming T1 of the broadcast resynchronization boundary 515. When thefirst CCA procedure or first eCCA procedure 520 performed for the firstchannel during the first time period 525 is not successful, but thesecond CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 535 performed for thesecond channel during the first time period 525 is successful, the basestation may transmit the second preamble 545 on the second channelduring the second time period 550, and transmit the second unicasttransmission 530 on the second channel beginning at the broadcasttransmission time T3. When the first CCA procedure or first eCCAprocedure 520 performed for the first channel during the first timeperiod 525 is successful, but the second CCA procedure or second eCCAprocedure 535 performed for the second channel during the first timeperiod 525 is not successful, the base station may transmit the firstpreamble 540 on the first channel during the second time period 550, andtransmit the broadcast transmission or multicast transmission 505 on thefirst channel beginning at the broadcast transmission time T3.

As previously described, when an apparatus defers a broadcasttransmission or multicast transmission on a first channel for a periodof time, the likelihood that contention for access to a second channelwill be successfully completed before commencement of the broadcasttransmission or multicast transmission may be increased, and thelikelihood that transmission of the broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission will block a transmission on the second channel will bedecreased. An example showing how a broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission may be deferred is shown with reference to FIG. 6 .

FIG. 6 shows a timeline 600 of contending for access to a first channelof a shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a multipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission ormulticast transmission 605), and contending for access to a secondchannel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a first unicast transmission 610, in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or multicast transmission 605 may be an exampleof a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMP transmission. In someexamples, the contentions for access to the first channel and the secondchannel may be performed by a base station. The base station may be anexample of aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205, or205-a described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or multicast transmission may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 6 , a base station may contend for access to the firstchannel (f1) based at least in part on a timing T1 of a broadcastresynchronization boundary 615. In some examples, the base station maycontend for access to the first channel by performing a first CCAprocedure or first eCCA procedure 620 during a first time period 625preceding the broadcast resynchronization boundary 615.

By way of example, the base station is shown to contend for access tothe second channel (f2) for the first unicast transmission 610 during asecond time period 630. In some examples, the base station may contendfor access to the second channel by performing a second CCA procedure orsecond eCCA procedure 635 during the second time period 630.

As shown, the base station may win contention for access to the firstchannel at the timing T1 of the broadcast resynchronization boundary615, but the base station may not win contention for access to thesecond channel until a time T2. When a third time period 640 between thetiming T1 of the broadcast resynchronization boundary 615 and abroadcast transmission time T3 is greater than a length of a firstpreamble 645 to be transmitted for the broadcast transmission ormulticast transmission 605, the base station may defer commencement ofthe broadcast transmission or multicast transmission 605 (e.g., remainidle on the first channel for an idle period 670) and perform a thirdCCA procedure 650 for the first channel during a fourth time period 655.The broadcast transmission time T3 may occur a predetermined time afterthe timing T1 of the broadcast resynchronization boundary 615, and thefourth time period 655 may begin at a predetermined time between thetiming T1 of the broadcast resynchronization boundary 615 and thebroadcast transmission time T3. The timing of the fourth time period 655may enable performance of the third CCA procedure 650 just beforetransmitting the first preamble 645 on the first channel.

When the third CCA procedure 650 performed for the first channel duringthe fourth time period 655 and the second CCA procedure or second eCCAprocedure 635 performed for the second channel during the second timeperiod 630 are both successful, the base station may transmit the firstpreamble 645 on the first channel and a second preamble 660 on thesecond channel during a fifth time period 665, and begin transmission ofthe broadcast transmission or multicast transmission 605 on the firstchannel and the first unicast transmission 610 on the second channel atthe broadcast transmission time T3. When the third CCA procedure 650performed for the first channel during the fourth time period 655 is notsuccessful, but the second CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 635performed for the second channel during the second time period 630 issuccessful, the base station may transmit the second preamble 660 on thesecond channel during the fifth time period 665, and transmit the firstunicast transmission 610 on the second channel beginning at thebroadcast transmission time T3. When the third CCA procedure 650performed for the first channel during the fourth time period 655 issuccessful, but the second CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 635performed for the second channel during the second time period 630 isnot successful (or has yet to be completed), the base station maytransmit the first preamble 645 on the first channel during the fifthtime period 665, and transmit the broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission 605 on the first channel beginning at the broadcasttransmission time T3.

The idle period 670 between the broadcast resynchronization boundary 615and the fourth time period 655 may enable another apparatus gainingaccess to the first channel, thereby causing the base station to loseaccess to the first channel and be unable to transmit the broadcasttransmission or multicast transmission 605. However, when the broadcasttransmission or multicast transmission 605 is an MBSFN transmission thatis also transmitted by a neighboring base station (or base stations), aninability to transmit the broadcast transmission or multicasttransmission 605 from one base station may have a non-significant effecton the UEs that would have otherwise received the broadcast transmissionor multicast transmission 605, because the UEs can receive the broadcasttransmission or multicast transmission from a neighboring base station.

In some examples, different parameters (e.g., different contentionwindow sizes or different CCA/eCCA energy detection thresholds) may beused to contend for access to a first channel, for transmission of abroadcast transmission or multicast transmission, and a second channel,for transmission of a unicast transmission. To provide bettersynchronization between broadcast/multicast transmissions and unicasttransmissions, a base station may apply a same set of parameters (e.g.,a broadcast set of parameters) to the CCA procedures or eCCA proceduresused to contend for access to channels for parallel broadcast/multicasttransmissions and unicast transmissions, as described with reference toFIG. 6 .

FIG. 7 shows a timeline 700 of contending for access to a first channelof a shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the purpose oftransmitting a multipoint transmission (e.g., broadcast transmission705), and contending for access to a second channel of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band, for the purpose of transmitting a first unicasttransmission 710, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, the broadcast transmission 705 may be anexample of a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMP transmission. Insome examples, the contentions for access to the first channel and thesecond channel may be performed by a base station. The base station maybe an example of aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,or 205-a described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . In some examples, thebroadcast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single celleMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 7 , a base station may contend for access to the firstchannel (f1) based at least in part on a timing T1 of a broadcastresynchronization boundary 715. In some examples, the base station maycontend for access to the first channel by performing a first CCAprocedure or first eCCA procedure 720 during a first time period 725preceding the broadcast resynchronization boundary 715.

By way of example, the base station may also contend for access to thesecond channel (f2) for the first unicast transmission 710 during thefirst time period 725. In some examples, the base station may contendfor access to the second channel by performing a second CCA procedure orsecond eCCA procedure 730 during the first time period 725. The secondCCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 730 may be performed using thesame parameters (e.g., contention window size or CCA/eCCA energydetection threshold) used for the first CCA procedure or first eCCAprocedure 720 (e.g., both the first CCA procedure or first eCCAprocedure and the second CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure may usea set of broadcast transmission parameters).

As shown, the base station may win contention for access to the firstchannel and the second channel at the broadcast resynchronizationboundary 715. When the first CCA procedure or first eCCA procedure 720performed for the first channel during the first time period 725 and thesecond CCA procedure or second eCCA procedure 730 performed for thesecond channel during the first time period 725 are both successful, thebase station may transmit a first preamble 735 on the first channel anda second preamble 740 on the second channel during a second time period745, and begin transmission of the broadcast transmission 705 on thefirst channel and the first unicast transmission 710 on the secondchannel at a broadcast transmission time T2. The broadcast transmissiontime T2 may occur a predetermined time after the timing T1 of thebroadcast resynchronization boundary 715.

After completion of the broadcast transmission 705 and the first unicasttransmission 710, the base station may contend for access to the firstchannel for a second unicast transmission 750 and contend for access tothe second channel for a third unicast transmission 755. The basestation may contend for access to the first channel for the secondunicast transmission 750 by performing a third CCA procedure or thirdeCCA procedure 760 during a third time period 765, and may contend foraccess to the second channel for the third unicast transmission 755 byperforming a fourth CCA procedure or fourth eCCA procedure 770. Thethird CCA procedure or third eCCA procedure 760 may be performed usingthe same parameters (e.g., contention window size or CCA/eCCA energydetection threshold) used for the fourth CCA procedure or fourth eCCAprocedure 770 (e.g., both the third CCA procedure or third eCCAprocedure and the fourth CCA procedure or fourth eCCA procedure may usea set of unicast transmission parameters).

Each of the second unicast transmission 750 and the third unicasttransmission 755 may be preceded by a preamble.

In some examples, a PFFICH (or a downlink control channel) transmittedby a base station may include configuration information for the next fewsubframes or a downlink transmission burst. The PFFICH may beMBSFN-specific or cell-specific. In some examples, a few resourceelements of each MBSFN subframe may be reserved for PFFICH (or downlinkcontrol channel) transmission, to enable nodes that determine a channelis “clear” at a later time than other nodes to transmit the PFFICH (ordownlink control channel). In some examples, a higher layer may indicateto UEs the potential subframes that can be used for MBSFN or multicasttransmissions. A UE operating in an RRC IDLE mode may therefore monitorthe PFFICH (or downlink control channel) when there can be subframes forMBSFN or multicast transmission, instead of monitoring the PFFICH (ordownlink control channel) for all downlink bursts or downlinksubframes.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of an apparatus 805 for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. The apparatus 805 may be an example of aspects of one ormore of the base stations 105, 205, or 205-a described with reference toFIG. 1 or 2 . The apparatus 805 may also be or include a processor. Theapparatus 805 may include a receiver 810, a wireless communicationmanager 820, or a transmitter 830. Each of these components may be incommunication with each other.

The components of the apparatus 805 may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicablefunctions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed byone or more other processing units (or cores), on one or more integratedcircuits. In other examples, other types of integrated circuits may beused (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), a System-on-Chip (SoC), and/or other types of Semi-Custom ICs),which may be programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions ofeach component may also be implemented, in whole or in part, withinstructions embodied in a memory, formatted to be executed by one ormore general or application-specific processors.

In some examples, the receiver 810 may include at least one radiofrequency (RF) receiver, such as at least one RF receiver operable toreceive transmissions over a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band(e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmittingapparatuses may not contend for access because the radio frequencyspectrum band is licensed to unique users for unique uses) or a sharedradio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band forwhich transmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such asWi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for use bydifferent radio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum bandthat is available for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner)). In some examples, the dedicated radio frequencyspectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band may be usedfor LTE/LTE-A communications, as described, for example, with referenceto FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , or 7. The receiver 810 may be used to receivevarious types of data or control signals (i.e., transmissions) over oneor more communication links of a wireless communication system, such asone or more communication links of the wireless communication system 100or 200 described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication linksmay be established over the first radio frequency spectrum band or thesecond radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the transmitter 830 may include at least one RFtransmitter, such as at least one RF transmitter operable to transmitover the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The transmitter 830 may be used to transmitvarious types of data or control signals (i.e., transmissions) over oneor more communication links of a wireless communication system, such asone or more communication links of the wireless communication system 100or 200 described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication linksmay be established over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band orthe shared radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the wireless communication manager 820 may be used tomanage one or more aspects of wireless communication for the apparatus805. In some examples, part of the wireless communication manager 820may be incorporated into or shared with the receiver 810 or thetransmitter 830. In some examples, the wireless communication manager820 may include a contention window size manager 835 or a channel accesscontender 840.

The contention window size manager 835 may be used to determine acontention window size for a first multipoint transmission (e.g., afirst broadcast transmission or a first multicast transmission) on atleast one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission may betargeted for a first plurality of UEs. In some examples, the firstbroadcast transmission or first multicast transmission may be an exampleof a multipoint transmission. In some cases, the first broadcasttransmission or first multicast transmission may be an example of a CoMPtransmission. The channel access contender 840 may be used to contendfor access to the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band for the first broadcast transmission or the firstmulticast transmission based at least in part on the determinedcontention window size. In some examples, the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of an apparatus 905 for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. The apparatus 905 may be an example of aspects of one ormore of the base stations 105, 205, or 205-a described with reference toFIG. 1 or 2 , or aspects of the apparatus 805 described with referenceto FIG. 8 . The apparatus 905 may also be or include a processor. Theapparatus 905 may include a receiver 910, a wireless communicationmanager 920, or a transmitter 930. Each of these components may be incommunication with each other.

The components of the apparatus 905 may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all ofthe applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions maybe performed by one or more other processing units (or cores), on one ormore integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integratedcircuits may be used (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, FPGAs, a SoC,and/or other types of Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each component may also beimplemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in amemory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

In some examples, the receiver 910 may include at least one RF receiver,such as at least one RF receiver operable to receive transmissions overa dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may not contend foraccess because the radio frequency spectrum band is licensed to uniqueusers for unique uses) or a shared radio frequency spectrum band (e.g.,a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses maycontend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for use by different radio accesstechnologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that is available foruse by multiple operators in an equally shared or prioritized manner)).In some examples, the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or theshared radio frequency spectrum band may be used for LTE/LTE-Acommunications, as described, for example, with reference to FIG. 1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6 , or 7. The receiver 910 may in some cases include separatereceivers for the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band and the sharedradio frequency spectrum band. The separate receivers may, in someexamples, take the form of an LTE/LTE-A receiver for communicating overthe dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., LTE/LTE-A receiverfor dedicated RF spectrum band 912), and an LTE/LTE-A receiver forcommunicating over the shared radio frequency spectrum band (e.g.,LTE/LTE-A receiver for shared RF spectrum band 914). The receiver 910,including the LTE/LTE-A receiver for dedicated RF spectrum band 912 orthe LTE/LTE-A receiver for shared RF spectrum band 914, may be used toreceive various types of data or control signals (i.e., transmissions)over one or more communication links of a wireless communication system,such as one or more communication links of the wireless communicationsystem 100 or 200 described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . Thecommunication links may be established over the dedicated radiofrequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the transmitter 930 may include at least one RFtransmitter, such as at least one RF transmitter operable to transmitover the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The transmitter 930 may in some cases includeseparate transmitters for the dedicated radio frequency spectrum bandand the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The separate transmittersmay, in some examples, take the form of an LTE/LTE-A transmitter forcommunicating over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g.,LTE/LTE-A transmitter for dedicated RF spectrum band 932), and anLTE/LTE-A transmitter for communicating over the shared radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., LTE/LTE-A transmitter for shared RF spectrum band934). The transmitter 930, including the LTE/LTE-A transmitter fordedicated RF spectrum band 932 or the LTE/LTE-A transmitter for sharedRF spectrum band 934, may be used to transmit various types of data orcontrol signals (i.e., transmissions) over one or more communicationlinks of a wireless communication system, such as one or morecommunication links of the wireless communication system 100 or 200described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication links may beestablished over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or theshared radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the wireless communication manager 920 may be used tomanage one or more aspects of wireless communication for the apparatus905. In some examples, part of the wireless communication manager 920may be incorporated into or shared with the receiver 910 or thetransmitter 930. In some examples, the wireless communication manager920 may include a broadcast/multicast services manager 945, atransmission manager 950, a channel load determiner 960, a unicasttransmission ACK/NAK identifier 965, a UE reception status receiver 970,a contention window size manager 935, or a channel access contender 940.

The broadcast/multicast services manager 945 may be used to receiveidentifications of broadcast services or multicast services of interestfrom each UE of at least a first plurality of UEs. In some examples, thebroadcast/multicast services manager 945 may be used to receiveidentifications of multipoint services of interest, including thoserelated to CoMP transmissions, which may be related to or examples ofbroadcast transmissions or multicast transmissions.

In some examples, the transmission manager 950 may include a UEreception status requestor 955. The UE reception status requestor 955may optionally be used to identify the first plurality of UEs from thereceived identifications. The first plurality of UEs may be identifiedbased at least in part on a type of service associated with a firstbroadcast transmission or a first multicast transmission, and based atleast in part on the received indications indicating that the UEs in thefirst plurality of UEs are interested in the type of service associatedwith the first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission. The UE reception status requestor 955 may also be used totrigger the first plurality of UEs to transmit UE reception statuses forthe first broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission.The UE reception status requestor 955 may also be used to trigger aplurality of UEs to transmit UE reception statuses for other broadcasttransmissions or multicast transmissions.

The transmission manager 950 may be used to transmit the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission, on at least onechannel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, upon winningcontention for access to the at least one channel for the firstbroadcast transmission. The transmission manager 950 may also be used totransmit a second broadcast transmission or a second multicasttransmission (or other broadcast transmissions or multicasttransmissions) on the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band, upon winning contention for access to the at least onechannel for the second broadcast transmission, the second multicasttransmission, or the other broadcast transmissions or multicasttransmissions. Each of the first broadcast transmission or the secondbroadcast transmission may include a single channel broadcasttransmission or a multiple channel broadcast transmission. Each of thefirst multicast transmission or the second multicast transmission mayinclude a single channel multicast transmission or a multiple channelmulticast transmission. In some examples, the first broadcasttransmission, the first multicast transmission, the second broadcasttransmission, or the second multicast transmission may be multiplexedwith at least one unicast transmission on the at least one channel. Insome examples, the first broadcast transmission, the first multicasttransmission, the second broadcast transmission, or the second multicasttransmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMStransmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

The channel load determiner 960 may optionally be used to determine aload on the at least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrumband on which the first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission is transmitted. The channel load determiner 960 may also beused to determine the load on other channels of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band.

The unicast transmission ACK/NAK identifier 965 may optionally be usedto identify at least one of ACKs or NAKs received for at least oneunicast transmission on one or more channels of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band.

The UE reception status receiver 970 may optionally be used to receive,from each UE of the first plurality of UEs, a UE reception status of thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission. Insome examples, the UE reception status of the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission may include a UE BLERfor the first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission. The UE reception status receiver 970 may also be used toreceive UE reception status of other broadcast transmissions ormulticast transmissions.

The contention window size manager 935 may be used to determine acontention window size for a second broadcast transmission or a secondmulticast transmission on the at least one channel of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The second broadcast transmission or the secondmulticast transmission may be targeted for a second plurality of UEs.The first plurality of UEs and the second plurality of UEs may include asame plurality of UEs or different pluralities of UEs. In some examples,the contention window size may be determined based at least in part onthe load determined by the channel load determiner 960. In someexamples, the contention window size may be determined based at least inpart on the ACKs or NAKs identified for the at least one unicasttransmission by the unicast transmission ACK/NAK identifier 965. In someexamples, the contention window size may be determined based at least inpart on the UE reception statuses received by the UE reception statusreceiver 970. The contention window size manager 935 may also be used todetermine a contention window size for other broadcast transmissions,multicast transmissions, or unicast transmissions.

The channel access contender 940 may be used to contend for access tothe at least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band forthe second broadcast transmission or the second multicast transmissionbased at least in part on the determined contention window size. Thechannel access contender 940 may also be used to contend for access tothe at least one channel, or other channels of the shared radiofrequency spectrum band, for other broadcast transmissions, multicasttransmissions, multipoint transmissions, CoMP transmissions, or unicasttransmissions.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of an apparatus 1015 for use inwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. The apparatus 1015 may be an example of aspects ofone or more of the UEs 115, 215, 215-a, 215-b, or 215-c described withreference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The apparatus 1015 may also be or include aprocessor. The apparatus 1015 may include a receiver 1010, a wirelesscommunication manager 1020, or a transmitter 1030. Each of thesecomponents may be in communication with each other.

The components of the apparatus 1015 may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all ofthe applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions maybe performed by one or more other processing units (or cores), on one ormore integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integratedcircuits may be used (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, FPGAs, a SoC,and/or other types of Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each component may also beimplemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in amemory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

In some examples, the receiver 1010 may include at least one RFreceiver, such as at least one RF receiver operable to receivetransmissions over a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., aradio frequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may notcontend for access because the radio frequency spectrum band is licensedto unique users for unique uses) or a shared radio frequency spectrumband (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmittingapparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for use by different radioaccess technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner)). In some examples, the dedicated radio frequencyspectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band may be usedfor LTE/LTE-A communications, as described, for example, with referenceto FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , or 7. The receiver 1010 may in some casesinclude separate receivers for the dedicated radio frequency spectrumband and the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The separatereceivers may, in some examples, take the form of an LTE/LTE-A receiverfor communicating over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band(e.g., LTE/LTE-A receiver for dedicated RF spectrum band 1012), and anLTE/LTE-A receiver for communicating over the shared radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., LTE/LTE-A receiver for shared RF spectrum band1014). The receiver 1010, including the LTE/LTE-A receiver for dedicatedRF spectrum band 1012 or the LTE/LTE-A receiver for shared RF spectrumband 1014, may be used to receive various types of data or controlsignals (i.e., transmissions) over one or more communication links of awireless communication system, such as one or more communication linksof the wireless communication system 100 or 200 described with referenceto FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication links may be established over thededicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequencyspectrum band.

In some examples, the transmitter 1030 may include at least one RFtransmitter, such as at least one RF transmitter operable to transmitover the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The transmitter 1030 may in some cases includeseparate transmitters for the dedicated radio frequency spectrum bandand the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The separate transmittersmay, in some examples, take the form of an LTE/LTE-A transmitter forcommunicating over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g.,LTE/LTE-A transmitter for dedicated RF spectrum band 1032), and anLTE/LTE-A transmitter for communicating over the shared radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., LTE/LTE-A transmitter for shared RF spectrum band1034). The transmitter 1030, including the LTE/LTE-A transmitter fordedicated RF spectrum band 1032 or the LTE/LTE-A transmitter for sharedRF spectrum band 1034, may be used to transmit various types of data orcontrol signals (i.e., transmissions) over one or more communicationlinks of a wireless communication system, such as one or morecommunication links of the wireless communication system 100 or 200described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication links may beestablished over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or theshared radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the wireless communication manager 1020 may be used tomanage one or more aspects of wireless communication for the apparatus1015. In some examples, part of the wireless communication manager 1020may be incorporated into or shared with the receiver 1010 or thetransmitter 1030. In some examples, the wireless communication manager1020 may include a transmission reception manager 1035 or a transmissionreception status reporting manager 1040.

The transmission reception manager 1035 may be used to receive abroadcast transmission or a multicast transmission targeted for aplurality of UEs on at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band. In some examples, the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission may be an example of a multipoint transmission,such as a CoMP transmission. In some examples, the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof. In some examples, the at least one channelover which the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission isreceived may include a single channel. In other examples, the at leastone channel over which the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission is received may include at least a first channel and asecond channel, and the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission may include a multiple channel broadcast transmission or amultiple channel multicast transmission.

The transmission reception status reporting manager 1040 may be used toreceive an indication to transmit a UE reception status of the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission, and to transmit the UEreception status of the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission based at least in part on the received indication. In someexamples, the UE reception status of the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission may include a UE BLER for the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of an apparatus 1105 for use inwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. The apparatus 1105 may be an example of aspects ofone or more of the base stations 105, 205, or 205-a described withreference to FIG. 1 or 2 , or aspects of one or more of the apparatuses805 or 905 described with reference to FIG. 8 or 9 . The apparatus 1105may also be or include a processor. The apparatus 1105 may include areceiver 1110, a wireless communication manager 1120, or a transmitter1130. Each of these components may be in communication with each other.

The components of the apparatus 1105 may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all ofthe applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions maybe performed by one or more other processing units (or cores), on one ormore integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integratedcircuits may be used (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, FPGAs, a SoC,and/or other types of Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each component may also beimplemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in amemory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

In some examples, the receiver 1110 may include at least one RFreceiver, such as at least one RF receiver operable to receivetransmissions over a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., aradio frequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may notcontend for access because the radio frequency spectrum band is licensedto unique users for unique uses) or a shared radio frequency spectrumband (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmittingapparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for use by different radioaccess technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner)). In some examples, the dedicated radio frequencyspectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band may be usedfor LTE/LTE-A communications, as described, for example, with referenceto FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , or 7. The receiver 1110 may be used toreceive various types of data or control signals (i.e., transmissions)over one or more communication links of a wireless communication system,such as one or more communication links of the wireless communicationsystem 100 or 200 described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . Thecommunication links may be established over the first radio frequencyspectrum band or the second radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the transmitter 1130 may include at least one RFtransmitter, such as at least one RF transmitter operable to transmitover the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The transmitter 1130 may be used to transmitvarious types of data or control signals (i.e., transmissions) over oneor more communication links of a wireless communication system, such asone or more communication links of the wireless communication system 100or 200 described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication linksmay be established over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band orthe shared radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the wireless communication manager 1120 may be used tomanage one or more aspects of wireless communication for the apparatus1105. In some examples, part of the wireless communication manager 1120may be incorporated into or shared with the receiver 1110 or thetransmitter 1130. In some examples, the wireless communication manager1120 may include a transmission-to-channel mapper 1135, a channel accesscontender 1140, or a transmission manager 1145.

The transmission-to-channel mapper 1135 may be used to identify at leasta first channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band fortransmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission (e.g.,a multipoint transmission), and to identify a second channel of theshared radio frequency spectrum band for transmitting a first unicasttransmission. In some examples, the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission may be an example of a multipoint transmission,such as a CoMP transmission. In some examples, the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission may include a MBSFNtransmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission,or a combination thereof.

The channel access contender 1140 may be used to contend for access toat least the first channel based at least in part on a timing of abroadcast resynchronization boundary. The channel access contender 1140may also be used to contend for access to the second channel. Thecontending for access to at least the first channel, for transmission ofthe broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission, and to thesecond channel, for transmission of the first unicast transmission, maybe performed independently, in synchronization, and/or in parallel. Insome examples, the contending for access to the second channel may besynchronized with the broadcast resynchronization boundary. In someexamples, contention for access to at least the first channel may be wonbased at least in part on a timing of the contention for access to thesecond channel. For example, when contention for access to at least thefirst channel and the second channel is synchronized, or when contentionfor access to at least the first channel is won before winningcontention for access to the second channel, contention for access to atleast the first channel may be won. When contention for access to thesecond channel is won before winning contention for access to at leastthe first channel, or when the second channel is in use at thecompletion of contending for access to at least the first channel,contention for access to at least the first channel may not be won(e.g., use of the second channel for the first unicast transmission (oranother transmission) may block access to at least the first channel forthe broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission).

The transmission manager 1145 may be used to transmit the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission at a broadcast transmissiontime upon winning contention for access to at least the first channel.The broadcast transmission time may occur a predetermined time after atiming of the broadcast resynchronization boundary.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram 1200 of an apparatus 1205 for use inwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. The apparatus 1205 may be an example of aspects ofone or more of the base stations 105, 205, or 205-a described withreference to FIG. 1 or 2 , or aspects of one or more of the apparatuses805, 905, or 1105 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 11. Theapparatus 1205 may also be or include a processor. The apparatus 1205may include a receiver 1210, a wireless communication manager 1220, or atransmitter 1230. Each of these components may be in communication witheach other.

The components of the apparatus 1205 may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all ofthe applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions maybe performed by one or more other processing units (or cores), on one ormore integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integratedcircuits may be used (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, FPGAs, a SoC,and/or other types of Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each component may also beimplemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in amemory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

In some examples, the receiver 1210 may include at least one RFreceiver, such as at least one RF receiver operable to receivetransmissions over a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., aradio frequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may notcontend for access because the radio frequency spectrum band is licensedto unique users for unique uses) or a shared radio frequency spectrumband (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmittingapparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for use by different radioaccess technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner)). In some examples, the dedicated radio frequencyspectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band may be usedfor LTE/LTE-A communications, as described, for example, with referenceto FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , or 7. The receiver 1210 may in some casesinclude separate receivers for the dedicated radio frequency spectrumband and the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The separatereceivers may, in some examples, take the form of an LTE/LTE-A receiverfor communicating over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band(e.g., LTE/LTE-A receiver for dedicated RF spectrum band 1212), and anLTE/LTE-A receiver for communicating over the shared radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., LTE/LTE-A receiver for shared RF spectrum band1214). The receiver 1210, including the LTE/LTE-A receiver for dedicatedRF spectrum band 1212 or the LTE/LTE-A receiver for shared RF spectrumband 1214, may be used to receive various types of data or controlsignals (i.e., transmissions) over one or more communication links of awireless communication system, such as one or more communication linksof the wireless communication system 100 or 200 described with referenceto FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication links may be established over thededicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequencyspectrum band.

In some examples, the transmitter 1230 may include at least one RFtransmitter, such as at least one RF transmitter operable to transmitover the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The transmitter 930 may in some cases includeseparate transmitters for the dedicated radio frequency spectrum bandand the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The separate transmittersmay, in some examples, take the form of an LTE/LTE-A transmitter forcommunicating over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band (e.g.,LTE/LTE-A transmitter for dedicated RF spectrum band 1232), and anLTE/LTE-A transmitter for communicating over the shared radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., LTE/LTE-A transmitter for shared RF spectrum band1234). The transmitter 1230, including the LTE/LTE-A transmitter fordedicated RF spectrum band 1232 or the LTE/LTE-A transmitter for sharedRF spectrum band 1234, may be used to transmit various types of data orcontrol signals (i.e., transmissions) over one or more communicationlinks of a wireless communication system, such as one or morecommunication links of the wireless communication system 100 or 200described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 . The communication links may beestablished over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or theshared radio frequency spectrum band.

In some examples, the wireless communication manager 1220 may be used tomanage one or more aspects of wireless communication for the apparatus1205. In some examples, part of the wireless communication manager 1220may be incorporated into or shared with the receiver 1210 or thetransmitter 1230. In some examples, the wireless communication manager1220 may include a transmission-to-channel mapper 1235, a channel accesscontender 1240, or a transmission manager 1245.

The transmission-to-channel mapper 1235 may be used to identify at leasta first channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band fortransmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission, andto identify a second channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum bandfor transmitting a first unicast transmission. In some examples, thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission may be an exampleof a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMP transmission. In someexamples, the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission mayinclude a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTMtransmission, or a combination thereof.

The channel access contender 1240 may be used to contend for access toat least the first channel based at least in part on a timing of abroadcast resynchronization boundary. The channel access contender 1240may also be used to contend for access to the second channel. Thecontending for access to at least the first channel, for transmission ofthe broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission (which may eachbe an example of a multipoint transmission, such as a CoMPtransmission), and to the second channel, for transmission of the firstunicast transmission, may be performed independently, insynchronization, and/or in parallel. In some examples, contention foraccess to at least the first channel may be won based at least in parton a timing of the contending for access to the second channel. In someexamples, contention for access to the second channel may be won basedat least in part on a timing of the contending for access to at leastthe first channel.

In some examples, the channel access contender 1240 may include aunicast transmission deferral manager 1250, a unicast transmissiontermination manager 1255, or a broadcast/multicast transmission deferralmanager 1260. The unicast transmission deferral manager 1250 mayoptionally be used to determine the contending for access to the secondchannel is successfully completed within a threshold time prior to thebroadcast resynchronization boundary, and to trigger the channel accesscontender 1140 (based at least in part on the determination that thecontention for access to the second channel is successfully completedwithin a threshold time prior to the broadcast resynchronizationboundary) to perform a CCA procedure for the second channel just priorto the broadcast resynchronization boundary. Contention for access tothe second channel may be won upon successfully performing the CCAprocedure. In this manner, transmission of the first unicasttransmission on the second channel may be synchronized with transmissionof the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission on at leastthe first channel, and transmission of the first unicast transmissionwill not block contention for access to at least the first channel (orblock transmission of the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission).

The unicast transmission termination manager 1255 may optionally be usedto stop a second unicast transmission on the second channel at athreshold time before the broadcast resynchronization boundary. Thesecond unicast transmission may precede the first unicast transmission.Stopping the second unicast transmission may enable synchronization ofcontention for access to at least the first channel (for transmission ofthe broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission) and contentionfor access to the second channel (for transmission of the first unicasttransmission), so that transmission of one of the transmissions does notblock the other of the transmissions.

The broadcast/multicast transmission deferral manager 1260 mayoptionally be used to determine the contending for access to at leastthe first channel is successfully completed before completing thecontending for access to the second channel, and to trigger the channelaccess contender 1140 (based at least in part on the determination thatthe contending for access to at least the first channel is successfullycompleted before completing the contending for access to the secondchannel) to perform a CCA procedure for at least the first channel at apredetermined time between the timing of the broadcast resynchronizationboundary and a broadcast transmission time. The broadcast transmissiontime may occur a predetermined time after the timing of the broadcastresynchronization boundary. Contention for access to at least the firstchannel may be won upon successfully performing the CCA procedure for atleast the first channel. In this manner, transmission of the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission on at least the first channelmay be synchronized with transmission of the first unicast transmissionon the second channel, and transmission of the broadcast transmission orthe multicast transmission will not block contention for access to thesecond channel or block transmission of the first unicast transmission.

In some examples, the transmission manager 1245 may include abroadcast/multicast transmission manager 1265 or a unicast transmissionmanager 1270. The broadcast/multicast transmission manager 1265 may beused to transmit the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission at the broadcast transmission time, upon winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel (or when the channel accesscontender 1240 performs a CCA procedure for at least the first channel,just prior to the broadcast transmission time, upon the channel accesscontender 1240 successfully performing the CCA procedure for at leastthe first channel). In some examples, broadcast/multicast transmissionmanager 1265 may be used to facilitate operations, such as transmitting,relating to a multipoint transmission, which may be an example of thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission. The unicasttransmission manager 1270 may be used to transmit the first unicasttransmission at the broadcast transmission time upon the channel accesscontender 1240 winning contention for access to the second channel (orwhen the channel access contender 1240 performs a CCA procedure for thesecond channel, just prior to the broadcast transmission time, upon thechannel access contender 1240 successfully performing the CCA procedurefor the second channel).

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram 1300 of a base station 1305 (e.g., a basestation forming part or all of an eNB) for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, the base station 1305 may be an example ofone or more aspects of the base stations 105, 205, or 205-a describedwith reference to FIG. 1 or 2 , or aspects of one or more of theapparatuses 805, 905, 1105, or 1205 described with reference to FIG. 8,9, 11 , or 12. The base station 1305 may be configured to implement orfacilitate at least some of the base station techniques and functionsdescribed with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 , or 12.

The base station 1305 may include a base station processor 1310, a basestation memory 1320, at least one base station transceiver (representedby base station transceiver(s) 1350), at least one base station antenna(represented by base station antenna(s) 1355), or a base stationwireless communication manager 1360. The base station 1305 may alsoinclude one or more of a base station communicator 1330 or a networkcommunicator 1340. Each of these components may be in communication witheach other, directly or indirectly, over one or more buses 1335.

The base station memory 1320 may include random access memory (RAM) orread-only memory (ROM). The base station memory 1320 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable code 1325 containing instructionsthat are configured to, when executed, cause the base station processor1310 to perform various functions described herein related to wirelesscommunication, including, for example, contending for access to one ormore channels of a shared radio frequency spectrum band for one or morebroadcast transmissions, multicast transmissions, multipointtransmissions, CoMP transmissions, and/or unicast transmissions.Alternatively, the computer-executable code 1325 may not be directlyexecutable by the base station processor 1310 but be configured to causethe base station 1305 (e.g., when compiled and executed) to performvarious of the functions described herein.

The base station processor 1310 may include an intelligent hardwaredevice, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, anASIC, etc. The base station processor 1310 may process informationreceived through the base station transceiver(s) 1350, the base stationcommunicator 1330, or the network communicator 1340. The base stationprocessor 1310 may also process information to be sent to thetransceiver(s) 1350 for transmission through the antenna(s) 1355, to thebase station communicator 1330, for transmission to one or more otherbase stations (e.g., base station 1305-a and base station 1305-b), or tothe network communicator 1340 for transmission to a core network 1345,which may be an example of one or more aspects of the core network 130described with reference to FIG. 1 . The base station processor 1310 mayhandle, alone or in connection with the base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360, various aspects of communicating over (ormanaging communications over) a dedicated radio frequency spectrum bandor a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The dedicated radio frequencyspectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may not contend for access (e.g., a radiofrequency spectrum band licensed to unique users for unique uses, suchas a licensed radio frequency spectrum band usable for LTE/LTE-Acommunications). The shared radio frequency spectrum band may include aradio frequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses maycontend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for use by different radio accesstechnologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that is available foruse by multiple operators in an equally shared or prioritized manner).

The base station transceiver(s) 1350 may include a modem configured tomodulate packets and provide the modulated packets to the base stationantenna(s) 1355 for transmission, and to demodulate packets receivedfrom the base station antenna(s) 1355. The base station transceiver(s)1350 may, in some examples, be implemented as one or more base stationtransmitters and one or more separate base station receivers. The basestation transceiver(s) 1350 may support communications in the dedicatedradio frequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrumband. The base station transceiver(s) 1350 may be configured tocommunicate bi-directionally, via the antenna(s) 1355, with one or moreUEs or apparatuses, such as one or more of the UEs 115, 215, 215-a,215-b, or 215-c described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 , or theapparatus 1015 described with reference to FIG. 10 . The base station1305 may, for example, include multiple base station antennas 1355(e.g., an antenna array). The base station 1305 may communicate with thecore network 1345 through the network communicator 1340. The basestation 1305 may also communicate with other base stations, such as thebase station 1305-a and the base station 1305-b, using the base stationcommunicator 1330.

The base station wireless communication manager 1360 may be configuredto perform or control some or all of the techniques or functionsdescribed with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 , or 12related to wireless communication over the dedicated radio frequencyspectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band. For example,the base station wireless communication manager 1360 may be configuredto support a supplemental downlink mode (e.g., a licensed assistedaccess mode), a carrier aggregation mode, or a standalone mode using thededicated radio frequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The base station wireless communication manager 1360 mayinclude a base station LTE/LTE-A component for dedicated RF spectrumband 1365 configured to handle LTE/LTE-A communications in the dedicatedradio frequency spectrum band, and a base station LTE/LTE-A componentfor shared RF spectrum band 1370 configured to handle LTE/LTE-Acommunications in the shared radio frequency spectrum band. The basestation wireless communication manager 1360, or portions of it, mayinclude a processor, or some or all of the functions of the base stationwireless communication manager 1360 may be performed by the base stationprocessor 1310 or in connection with the base station processor 1310. Insome examples, the base station wireless communication manager 1360 maybe an example of the wireless communication manager 820, 920, 1120, or1220 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9, 11 , or 12.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram 1400 of a UE 1415 for use in wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. The UE 1415 may be included or be part of a personalcomputer (e.g., a laptop computer, a netbook computer, a tabletcomputer, etc.), a cellular telephone, a PDA, a DVR, an internetappliance, a gaming console, an e-reader, etc. The UE 1415 may, in someexamples, have an internal power supply (not shown), such as a smallbattery, to facilitate mobile operation. In some examples, the UE 1415may be an example of aspects of one or more of the UEs 115, 215, 215-a,215-b, or 215-c described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 , or aspects ofthe apparatus 1015 described with reference to FIG. 10 . The UE 1415 maybe configured to implement at least some of the UE or apparatustechniques and functions described with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7 , or 10.

The UE 1415 may include a UE processor 1410, a UE memory 1420, at leastone UE transceiver (represented by UE transceiver(s) 1430), at least oneUE antenna (represented by UE antenna(s) 1440), or a UE wirelesscommunication manager 1450. Each of these components may be incommunication with each other, directly or indirectly, over one or morebuses 1435.

The UE memory 1420 may include RAM or ROM. The UE memory 1420 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable code 1425 containing instructionsthat are configured to, when executed, cause the UE processor 1410 toperform various functions described herein related to wirelesscommunication, including, for example, transmitting a UE receptionstatus of a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission (e.g., amultipoint transmission). Alternatively, the computer-executable code1425 may not be directly executable by the UE processor 1410 but beconfigured to cause the UE 1415 (e.g., when compiled and executed) toperform various of the functions described herein.

The UE processor 1410 may include an intelligent hardware device, e.g.,a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, etc. The UE processor 1410 mayprocess information received through the UE transceiver(s) 1430 orinformation to be sent to the UE transceiver(s) 1430 for transmissionthrough the UE antenna(s) 1440. The UE processor 1410 may handle, aloneor in connection with the UE wireless communication manager 1450,various aspects of communicating over (or managing communications over)a dedicated radio frequency spectrum band or a shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The dedicated radio frequency spectrum band may include aradio frequency spectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may notcontend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band licensed tounique users for unique uses, such as a licensed radio frequencyspectrum band usable for LTE/LTE-A communications). The shared radiofrequency spectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band forwhich transmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such asWi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for use bydifferent radio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum bandthat is available for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner).

The UE transceiver(s) 1430 may include a modem configured to modulatepackets and provide the modulated packets to the UE antenna(s) 1440 fortransmission, and to demodulate packets received from the UE antenna(s)1440. The UE transceiver(s) 1430 may, in some examples, be implementedas one or more UE transmitters and one or more separate UE receivers.The UE transceiver(s) 1430 may support communications in the dedicatedradio frequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrumband. The UE transceiver(s) 1430 may be configured to communicatebi-directionally, via the UE antenna(s) 1440, with one or more of thebase stations 105, 205, 205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG.1, 2 , or 13, or aspects of one or more of the apparatuses 805, 905,1105, or 1205 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9, 11 , or 12. Whilethe UE 1415 may include a single UE antenna, there may be examples inwhich the UE 1415 may include multiple UE antennas 1440.

The UE wireless communication manager 1450 may be configured to performor control some or all of the UE or apparatus techniques or functionsdescribed with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , or 10 related towireless communication over the dedicated radio frequency spectrum bandor the shared radio frequency spectrum band. For example, the UEwireless communication manager 1450 may be configured to support asupplemental downlink mode (e.g., a licensed assisted access mode), acarrier aggregation mode, or a standalone mode using the dedicated radiofrequency spectrum band or the shared radio frequency spectrum band. TheUE wireless communication manager 1450 may include a UE LTE/LTE-Acomponent for dedicated RF spectrum band 1455 configured to handleLTE/LTE-A communications in the dedicated radio frequency spectrum band,and a UE LTE/LTE-A component for shared RF spectrum band 1460 configuredto handle LTE/LTE-A communications in the shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The UE wireless communication manager 1450, or portionsof it, may include a processor, or some or all of the functions of theUE wireless communication manager 1450 may be performed by the UEprocessor 1410 or in connection with the UE processor 1410. In someexamples, the UE wireless communication manager 1450 may be an exampleof the wireless communication manager 1020 described with reference toFIG. 10 .

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1500 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 1500 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 1500 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 1505, the method 1500 may include determining a contentionwindow size for a first broadcast transmission or a first multicasttransmission on at least one channel of a shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission may be targeted for a first plurality of UEs. The sharedradio frequency spectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrumband for which transmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, suchas Wi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for useby different radio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for use by multiple operators in an equallyshared or prioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 1505 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the contention window size manager 835 or 935described with reference to FIG. 8 or 9 .

At block 1510, the method 1500 may include contending for access to theat least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission basedat least in part on the determined contention window size. Theoperation(s) at block 1510 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or thechannel access contender 840 or 940 described with reference to FIG. 8or 9 .

In some examples of the method 1500, the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, asingle cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combinationthereof.

Thus, the method 1500 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 1500 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 1500 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1600 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 1600 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 1600 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 1605, the method 1600 may include determining a load on atleast one channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The sharedradio frequency spectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrumband for which transmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, suchas Wi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for useby different radio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for use by multiple operators in an equallyshared or prioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 1605 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the channel load determiner 960 described withreference to FIG. 9 .

At block 1610, the method 1600 may include determining a contentionwindow size for a first broadcast transmission or a first multicasttransmission on at least one channel of a shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission may be targeted for a first plurality of UEs. Thecontention window size may be determined based at least in part on theload determined at block 1605. The operation(s) at block 1610 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the contention window size manager 835 or 935described with reference to FIG. 8 or 9 .

At block 1615, the method 1600 may include contending for access to theat least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission basedat least in part on the determined contention window size. Theoperation(s) at block 1615 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or thechannel access contender 840 or 940 described with reference to FIG. 8or 9 .

At block 1620, the method 1600 may include determining whethercontention for access to the at least one channel for the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission is won. Uponwinning contention for access to the at least one channel, the method1600 may continue at block 1625. Upon not winning contention for accessto the at least one channel, the method 1600 may continue at block 1630.At block 1625, the method 1600 may include transmitting the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission. At block1630, the method 1600 may include refraining from transmitting the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission. Theoperation(s) at block 1620, 1625, or 1630 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or13, or the transmission manager 950 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

In some examples of the method 1600, the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, asingle cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combinationthereof.

Thus, the method 1600 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 1600 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 1600 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1700 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 1700 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 1700 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 1705, the method 1700 may include multiplexing at least oneunicast transmission and at least one broadcast transmission ormulticast transmission on at least one channel of a shared radiofrequency spectrum band. The shared radio frequency spectrum band mayinclude a radio frequency spectrum band for which transmittingapparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequency spectrumband that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for use by different radioaccess technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 1705 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8,9 , or 13, or the transmission manager 950 described with reference toFIG. 9 .

At block 1710, the method 1700 may include identifying at least one ofACKs or NAKs received for the at least one unicast transmission. Theoperation(s) at block 1710 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or theunicast transmission ACK/NAK identifier 965 described with reference toFIG. 9 .

At block 1715, the method 1700 may include determining a contentionwindow size for a first broadcast transmission or a first multicasttransmission on the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The first broadcast transmission or the first multicasttransmission may be targeted for a first plurality of UEs. Thecontention window size may be determined based at least in part on theACKs or NAKs identified for the at least one unicast transmission atblock 1710. The operation(s) at block 1715 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or13, or the contention window size manager 835 or 935 described withreference to FIG. 8 or 9 .

At block 1720, the method 1700 may include contending for access to theat least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for thefirst broadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission basedat least in part on the determined contention window size. Theoperation(s) at block 1720 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or thechannel access contender 840 or 940 described with reference to FIG. 8or 9 .

At block 1725, the method 1700 may include determining whethercontention for access to the at least one channel for the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission is won. Uponwinning contention for access to the at least one channel, the method1700 may continue at block 1730. Upon not winning contention for accessto the at least one channel, the method 1700 may continue at block 1735.At block 1730, the method 1700 may include transmitting the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission. At block1735, the method 1700 may include refraining from transmitting the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission. Theoperation(s) at block 1725, 1730, or 1735 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or13, or the transmission manager 950 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

In some examples of the method 1700, the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, asingle cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combinationthereof.

Thus, the method 1700 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 1700 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 1700 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1800 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 1800 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 1800 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 1805, the method 1800 may include receiving identifications ofbroadcast services of interest from each UE of at least a firstplurality of UEs. The operation(s) at block 1805 may be performed usingthe wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or13, or the broadcast/multicast services manager 945 described withreference to FIG. 9 .

At block 1810, the method 1800 may include identifying the firstplurality of UEs from the received identifications. The first pluralityof UEs may be identified based at least in part on a type of serviceassociated with a first broadcast transmission or a first multicasttransmission, and based at least in part on the received indicationsindicating that the UEs in the first plurality of UEs are interested inthe type of service associated with the first broadcast transmission orthe first multicast transmission. The operation(s) at block 1810 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the transmission manager 950 described withreference to FIG. 9 .

At block 1815, the method 1800 may include triggering the firstplurality of UEs to transmit UE reception statuses for the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission. Theoperation(s) at block 1815 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the UEreception status requestor 955 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

At block 1820, the method 1800 may include transmitting the firstbroadcast transmission or the first multicast transmission on at leastone channel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The shared radiofrequency spectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band forwhich transmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such asWi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for use bydifferent radio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum bandthat is available for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 1820 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8,9 , or 13, or the transmission manager 950 described with reference toFIG. 9 .

At block 1825, the method 1800 may include receiving, from each UE ofthe first plurality of UEs, a UE reception status of the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission. In some examples, theUE reception status of the first broadcast transmission or the firstmulticast transmission may include a UE BLER for the first broadcasttransmission or the first multicast transmission. The operation(s) atblock 1825 may be performed using the wireless communication manager 820or 920 or base station wireless communication manager 1360 describedwith reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the UE reception status receiver970 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

At block 1830, the method 1800 may include determining a contentionwindow size for a second broadcast transmission or a second multicasttransmission on the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band. The second broadcast transmission or the second multicasttransmission may be targeted for a second plurality of UEs. The firstplurality of UEs and the second plurality of UEs may include a sameplurality of UEs or different pluralities of UEs. The contention windowsize may be determined based at least in part on the UE receptionstatuses. The operation(s) at block 1830 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or13, or the contention window size manager 835 or 935 described withreference to FIG. 8 or 9 .

At block 1835, the method 1800 may include contending for access to theat least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band for thesecond broadcast transmission based at least in part on the determinedcontention window size. The operation(s) at block 1835 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8,9 , or 13, or the channel access contender 840 or 940 described withreference to FIG. 8 or 9 .

At block 1840, the method 1800 may include determining whethercontention for access to the at least one channel for the secondbroadcast transmission or the second multicast transmission is won. Uponwinning contention for access to the at least one channel, the method1800 may continue at block 1845. Upon not winning contention for accessto the at least one channel, the method 1800 may continue at block 1850.At block 1845, the method 1800 may include transmitting the secondbroadcast transmission or the second multicast transmission. At block1850, the method 1800 may include refraining from transmitting thesecond broadcast transmission or the second multicast transmission. Theoperation(s) at block 1840, 1845, or 1850 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 820 or 920 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or13, or the transmission manager 950 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

In some examples of the method 1800, the first broadcast transmission,the first multicast transmission, the second broadcast transmission, orthe second multicast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, asingle cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combinationthereof.

Thus, the method 1800 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 1800 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 1800 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1900 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 1900 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 1900 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 1905, the method 1900 may include identifying a plurality ofACKs or NAKs corresponding to at least one unicast transmission. The atleast one unicast transmission may be transmitted on one or more of aplurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrum band. Theshared radio frequency spectrum band may include a radio frequencyspectrum band for which transmitting apparatuses may contend for access(e.g., a radio frequency spectrum band that is available for unlicenseduse, such as Wi-Fi use, a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by different radio access technologies, or a radiofrequency spectrum band that is available for use by multiple operatorsin an equally shared or prioritized manner). The operation(s) at block1905 may be performed using the wireless communication manager 820 or920 or base station wireless communication manager 1360 described withreference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the unicast transmission ACK/NAKidentifier 965 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

At block 1910, the method 1900 may include determining a contentionwindow size for a first multiple channel broadcast transmission or afirst multiple channel multicast transmission. The first multiplechannel broadcast transmission or the first multiple channel multicasttransmission may be targeted for a plurality of UEs. The contentionwindow size may be determined based at least in part on the plurality ofACKs or NAKs identified at block 1905. The operation(s) at block 1910may be performed using the wireless communication manager 820 or 920 orbase station wireless communication manager 1360 described withreference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or the contention window size manager835 or 935 described with reference to FIG. 8 or 9 .

At block 1915, the method 1900 may include contending for access to atleast a first channel and a second channel of the plurality of channelsof the shared radio frequency spectrum band, for the first multiplechannel broadcast transmission or the first multiple channel multicasttransmission, based at least in part on the determined contention windowsize. The operation(s) at block 1915 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or thechannel access contender 840 or 940 described with reference to FIG. 8or 9 .

At block 1920, the method 1900 may include determining whethercontention for access to at least the first channel and the secondchannel for the first multiple channel broadcast transmission or thefirst multiple channel multicast transmission is won. Upon winningcontention for access to at least the first channel and the secondchannel, the method 1900 may continue at block 1925. Upon not winningcontention for access to at least the first channel and the secondchannel, the method 1900 may continue at block 1930. At block 1925, themethod 1900 may include transmitting the first channel and the secondchannel for the first multiple channel broadcast transmission or thefirst multiple channel multicast transmission. At block 1930, the method1900 may include refraining from transmitting the first channel and thesecond channel for the first multiple channel broadcast transmission orthe first multiple channel multicast transmission. The operation(s) atblock 1920, 1925, or 1930 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 820 or 920 or base station wireless communicationmanager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 8, 9 , or 13, or thetransmission manager 950 described with reference to FIG. 9 .

In some examples of the method 1900, the first multiple channelbroadcast transmission or the first multiple channel multicasttransmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMStransmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof.

Thus, the method 1900 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 1900 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 1900 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 2000 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 2000 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the UEs 115, 215, 215-a, 215-b,215-c, or 1415 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 14, or aspectsof the apparatus 1015 described with reference to FIG. 10 . In someexamples, a UE may execute one or more sets of codes to control thefunctional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform one or more of thefunctions described below using special-purpose hardware. In someexamples, methods and techniques described for method 2000 relating to abroadcast transmission or a multicast transmission (or a combinationthereof) may also relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMPtransmission). In some examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission may be an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 2005, the method 2000 may include receiving an indication totransmit a UE reception status of a broadcast transmission or amulticast transmission targeted for a plurality of UEs. The operation(s)at block 2005 may be performed using the wireless communication manager1020 or UE wireless communication manager 1450 described with referenceto FIG. 10 or 14 , or the transmission reception status reportingmanager 1040 described with reference to FIG. 10 .

At block 2010, the method 2000 may include receiving the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission on at least one channel of ashared radio frequency spectrum band. The shared radio frequencyspectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for use by differentradio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 2010 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1020 or UE wirelesscommunication manager 1450 described with reference to FIG. 10 or 14 ,or the transmission reception manager 1035 described with reference toFIG. 10 .

At block 2015, the method 2000 may include transmitting the UE receptionstatus of the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission basedat least in part on the received indication. In some examples, the UEreception status of the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission may include a UE BLER for the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission. The operation(s) at block 2015 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1020 or UE wirelesscommunication manager 1450 described with reference to FIG. 10 or 14 ,or the transmission reception status reporting manager 1040 describedwith reference to FIG. 10 .

In some examples of the method 2000, the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission may include a MBSFN transmission, a single celleMBMS transmission, a SC-PTM transmission, or a combination thereof. Insome examples, the at least one channel over which the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission is received may include asingle channel. In other examples, the at least one channel over whichthe broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission is received mayinclude at least a first channel and a second channel, and the broadcasttransmission or the multicast transmission may include a multiplechannel broadcast transmission or a multiple channel multicasttransmission.

Thus, the method 2000 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 2000 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 2000 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 2100 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 2100 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 2100 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 2105, the method 2100 may include identifying at least a firstchannel of a plurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrumband for transmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission, and identifying a second channel of the plurality ofchannels for transmitting a first unicast transmission. In someexamples, the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission mayinclude a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTMtransmission, or a combination thereof. The shared radio frequencyspectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for use by differentradio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 2105 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11,12 , or 13, or the transmission-to-channel mapper 1135 or 1235 describedwith reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

The operations at block 2110 and block 2115 may be performedindependently, in synchronization, and/or in parallel. At block 2110,the method 2100 may include contending for access to at least the firstchannel based at least in part on a timing of a broadcastresynchronization boundary. The operation(s) at block 2110 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 11, 12 , or 13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2115, the method 2100 may include contending for access to thesecond channel. In some examples, the contending for access to thesecond channel may be performed independently of the contending foraccess to at least the first channel. In some examples, the contendingfor access to the second channel may be synchronized with the broadcastresynchronization boundary. The operation(s) at block 2115 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 11, 12 , or 13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2120, the method 2100 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel based at least in part on atiming of the contending for access to the second channel (at block2115). For example, when contention for access to the at least firstchannel and the second channel is synchronized, or when contention foraccess to at least the first channel is won before winning contentionfor access to the second channel, contention for access to at least thefirst channel may be won. When contention for access to the secondchannel is won before winning contention for access to at least thefirst channel, or when the second channel is in use at the completion ofcontending for access to at least the first channel, contention foraccess to at least the first channel may not be won (e.g., use of thesecond channel for the first unicast transmission (or anothertransmission) may block access to at least the first channel for thebroadcast transmission). The operation(s) at block 2120 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11,12 , or 13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2125, the method 2100 may optionally include transmitting thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission at a broadcasttransmission time upon winning contention for access to at least thefirst channel. The broadcast transmission time may occur a predeterminedtime after a timing of the broadcast resynchronization boundary. Theoperation(s) at block 2125 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the transmission manager 1145 or 1245 described with reference toFIG. 11 or 12 , or the broadcast/multicast transmission manager 1265described with reference to FIG. 12 .

Thus, the method 2100 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 2100 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 2100 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 2200 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 2200 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 2200 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 2205, the method 2200 may include identifying at least a firstchannel of a plurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrumband for transmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission, and identifying a second channel of the plurality ofchannels for transmitting a first unicast transmission. In someexamples, the broadcast transmission or the unicast transmission mayinclude a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTMtransmission, or a combination thereof. The shared radio frequencyspectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for use by differentradio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 2205 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11,12 , or 13, or the transmission-to-channel mapper 1135 or 1235 describedwith reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

The operations at block 2210 and 2215 may be performed independently, insynchronization, and/or in parallel. At block 2210, the method 2200 mayinclude contending for access to at least the first channel based atleast in part on a timing of a broadcast resynchronization boundary. Theoperation(s) at block 2210 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2215, the method 2200 may include contending for access to thesecond channel. The operation(s) at block 2215 may be performed usingthe wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2220, the method 2200 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel based at least in part on atiming of the contending for access to the second channel (at block2215). The operation(s) at block 2220 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2225, the method 2200 may optionally include transmitting thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission at a broadcasttransmission time upon winning contention for access to at least thefirst channel. The broadcast transmission time may occur a predeterminedtime after a timing of the broadcast resynchronization boundary. Theoperation(s) at block 2225 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the transmission manager 1145 or 1245 described with reference toFIG. 11 or 12 , or the broadcast/multicast transmission manager 1265described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2230, the method 2200 may include determining the contendingfor access to the second channel is successfully completed within athreshold time prior to the broadcast resynchronization boundary. Theoperation(s) at block 2230 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described with referenceto FIG. 11 or 12 , or the unicast transmission deferral manager 1250described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2235, the method 2200 may include performing a CCA procedurefor the second channel just prior to the broadcast resynchronizationboundary. The operation(s) at block 2235 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described with referenceto FIG. 11 or 12 , or the unicast transmission deferral manager 1250described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2240, the method 2200 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to the second channel based upon successfully performing theCCA procedure. In this manner, transmission of the first unicasttransmission on the second channel may be synchronized with transmissionof the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission on at leastthe first channel, and transmission of the first unicast transmissionwill not block contention for access to at least the first channel orblock transmission of the broadcast transmission or the multicasttransmission. The operation(s) at block 2240 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described with referenceto FIG. 11 or 12 , or the unicast transmission deferral manager 1250described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2245, the method 2200 may optionally include transmitting thefirst unicast transmission at the broadcast transmission time uponsuccessfully performing the CCA procedure. The operation(s) at block2245 may be performed using the wireless communication manager 1120 or1220 or base station wireless communication manager 1360 described withreference to FIG. 11, 12 , or 13, the transmission manager 1145 or 1245described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 , or the unicast transmissionmanager 1270 described with reference to FIG. 12 .

Thus, the method 2200 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 2200 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 2200 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 2300 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 2300 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 2300 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 2305, the method 2300 may include identifying at least a firstchannel of a plurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrumband for transmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission, and identifying a second channel of the plurality ofchannels for transmitting a first unicast transmission. In someexamples, the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission mayinclude a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTMtransmission, or a combination thereof. The shared radio frequencyspectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for use by differentradio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 2305 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11,12 , or 13, or the transmission-to-channel mapper 1135 or 1235 describedwith reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2310, the method 2300 may include stopping a second unicasttransmission on the second channel at a threshold time before abroadcast resynchronization boundary. The second unicast transmissionmay precede the first unicast transmission. Stopping the second unicasttransmission may enable synchronization of contention for access to atleast the first channel (for transmission of the broadcast transmissionor the multicast transmission) and contention for access to the secondchannel (for transmission of the first unicast transmission), so thattransmission of one of the transmissions does not block the other of thetransmissions. The operation(s) at block 2310 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the unicast transmission termination manager 1255 described withreference to FIG. 12 .

The operations performed at block 2315 and block 2320 may be performedindependently, in synchronization, and/or in parallel. At block 2315,the method 2300 may include contending for access to at least the firstchannel based at least in part on a timing of the broadcastresynchronization boundary. The operation(s) at block 2315 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 11, 12 , or 13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2320, the method 2300 may include contending for access to thesecond channel upon stopping the second unicast transmission. Theoperation(s) at block 2320 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2325, the method 2300 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel based at least in part on atiming of the contending for access to the second channel (at block2320). The operation(s) at block 2325 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2330, the method 2300 may optionally include transmitting thebroadcast transmission or the multicast transmission at a broadcasttransmission time upon winning contention for access to at least thefirst channel. The broadcast transmission time may occur a predeterminedtime after a timing of the broadcast resynchronization boundary. Theoperation(s) at block 2330 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the transmission manager 1145 or 1245 described with reference toFIG. 11 or 12 , or the broadcast/multicast transmission manager 1265described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2335, the method 2300 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to the second channel based at least in part on a timing ofthe contending for access to at least the first channel (at block 2315).The operation(s) at block 2335 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described with referenceto FIG. 11 or 12 , or the unicast transmission deferral manager 1250described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2340, the method 2300 may optionally include transmitting thefirst unicast transmission at the broadcast transmission time uponwinning contention for access to the second channel. The operation(s) atblock 2340 may be performed using the wireless communication manager1120 or 1220 or base station wireless communication manager 1360described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or 13, the transmissionmanager 1145 or 1245 described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 , or theunicast transmission manager 1270 described with reference to FIG. 12 .

Thus, the method 2300 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 2300 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 2300 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 2400 forwireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of thepresent disclosure. For clarity, the method 2400 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the base stations 105, 205,205-a, or 1305 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2 , or 13, or aspectsof one or more of the apparatuses 805 or 905 described with reference toFIG. 8 or 9 . In some examples, a base station may execute one or moresets of codes to control the functional elements of the base station toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station may perform one or more of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware. In some examples, methods andtechniques described for method 2400 relating to a broadcasttransmission or a multicast transmission (or a combination thereof) mayalso relate to a multipoint transmission (e.g., a CoMP transmission). Insome examples, a broadcast transmission or a multicast transmission maybe an example of a multipoint transmission.

At block 2405, the method 2400 may include identifying at least a firstchannel of a plurality of channels of a shared radio frequency spectrumband for transmitting a broadcast transmission or a multicasttransmission, and identifying a second channel of the plurality ofchannels for transmitting a first unicast transmission. In someexamples, the broadcast transmission or the multicast transmission mayinclude a MBSFN transmission, a single cell eMBMS transmission, a SC-PTMtransmission, or a combination thereof. The shared radio frequencyspectrum band may include a radio frequency spectrum band for whichtransmitting apparatuses may contend for access (e.g., a radio frequencyspectrum band that is available for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi use, aradio frequency spectrum band that is available for use by differentradio access technologies, or a radio frequency spectrum band that isavailable for use by multiple operators in an equally shared orprioritized manner). The operation(s) at block 2405 may be performedusing the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base stationwireless communication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11,12 , or 13, or the transmission-to-channel mapper 1135 or 1235 describedwith reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

The operations performed at block 2410 and block 2415 may be performedindependently, in synchronization, and/or in parallel. At block 2410,the method 2400 may include contending for access to at least the firstchannel based at least in part on a timing of the broadcastresynchronization boundary. The operation(s) at block 2410 may beperformed using the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or basestation wireless communication manager 1360 described with reference toFIG. 11, 12 , or 13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2415, the method 2400 may include contending for access to thesecond channel. The operation(s) at block 2415 may be performed usingthe wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2420, the method 2400 may include determining the contendingfor access to at least the first channel is successfully completedbefore completing the contending for access to the second channel. Theoperation(s) at block 2420 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2425, the method 2400 may include performing a CCA procedurefor at least the first channel at a predetermined time between thetiming of the broadcast resynchronization boundary and a broadcasttransmission time. The broadcast transmission time may occur apredetermined time after a timing of the broadcast resynchronizationboundary. In this manner, transmission of the broadcast transmission orthe multicast transmission on at least the first channel may besynchronized with transmission of the first unicast transmission on thesecond channel, and transmission of the broadcast transmission or themulticast transmission will not block contention for access to thesecond channel or block transmission of the first unicast transmission.The operation(s) at block 2425 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described with referenceto FIG. 11 or 12 , or the broadcast/multicast transmission deferralmanager 1260.

At block 2430, the method 2400 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to at least the first channel based at least in part on atiming of the contending for access to the second channel (at block2415) and upon successfully performing the CCA procedure (at block2425). The operation(s) at block 2430 may be performed using thewireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, or the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described withreference to FIG. 11 or 12 .

At block 2435, the method 2400 may optionally include transmitting thebroadcast transmission at a broadcast transmission time upon winningcontention for access to at least the first channel. The broadcasttransmission time may occur a predetermined time after a timing of thebroadcast resynchronization boundary. The operation(s) at block 2435 maybe performed using the wireless communication manager 1120 or 1220 orbase station wireless communication manager 1360 described withreference to FIG. 11, 12 , or 13, the transmission manager 1145 or 1245described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 , or the broadcast/multicasttransmission manager 1265 described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2440, the method 2400 may optionally include winning contentionfor access to the second channel based at least in part on a timing ofthe contending for access to at least the first channel (at block 2315).The operation(s) at block 2440 may be performed using the wirelesscommunication manager 1120 or 1220 or base station wirelesscommunication manager 1360 described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or13, the channel access contender 1140 or 1240 described with referenceto FIG. 11 or 12 , or the unicast transmission deferral manager 1250described with reference to FIG. 12 .

At block 2445, the method 2400 may optionally include transmitting thefirst unicast transmission at the broadcast transmission time uponwinning contention for access to the second channel. The operation(s) atblock 2445 may be performed using the wireless communication manager1120 or 1220 or base station wireless communication manager 1360described with reference to FIG. 11, 12 , or 13, the transmissionmanager 1145 or 1245 described with reference to FIG. 11 or 12 , or theunicast transmission manager 1270 described with reference to FIG. 12 .

Thus, the method 2400 may provide for wireless communication. It shouldbe noted that the method 2400 is just one implementation and that theoperations of the method 2400 may be rearranged or otherwise modifiedsuch that other implementations are possible.

In some examples, aspects of the methods 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900,2100, 2200, or 2300 described with reference to FIG. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,21, 22 , or 23 may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, andother systems. The terms “system” and “network” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such asCDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases 0 and Amay be referred to as CDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) may bereferred to as CDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRAincludes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA systemmay implement a radio technology such as Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM). An OFDMA system may implement a radio technologysuch as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM™, etc. UTRA andE-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).3GPP LTE and LTE-A are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA,E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from anorganization named 3GPP. CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documentsfrom an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2”(3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radiotechnologies, including cellular (e.g., LTE) communications over anunlicensed or shared bandwidth. The description above, however,describes an LTE/LTE-A system for purposes of example, and LTEterminology is used in much of the description above, although thetechniques are applicable beyond LTE/LTE-A applications.

The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appendeddrawings describes examples and does not represent all of the examplesthat may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. Theterms “example” and “exemplary,” when used in this description, mean“serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred”or “advantageous over other examples.” The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of thedescribed techniques. These techniques, however, may be practicedwithout these specific details. In some instances, well-known structuresand apparatuses are shown in block diagram form in order to avoidobscuring the concepts of the described examples.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connectionwith the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, anFPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processormay be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be aprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processormay also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, oneor more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any othersuch configuration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope and spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example,due to the nature of software, functions described above can beimplemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware,hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Components implementingfunctions may also be physically located at various positions, includingbeing distributed such that portions of functions are implemented atdifferent physical locations. As used herein, including in the claims,the term “or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that anyone of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination oftwo or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if acomposition is described as containing components A, B, or C, thecomposition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B incombination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B,and C in combination. Also, as used herein, including in the claims,“or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefacedby a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates adisjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A,B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B andC).

Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation,computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carryor store desired program code means in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also includedwithin the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable aperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not to be limited to the examplesand designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel techniques disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications at a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving an indication to transmit a UEreception status of a multipoint transmission targeted for a pluralityof UEs; receiving the multipoint transmission on at least one channel ofa shared radio frequency spectrum band; receiving at least one unicasttransmission multiplexed with the multipoint transmission on the atleast one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band; andtransmitting the UE reception status of the multipoint transmissioncomprising a UE block error rate (BLER) for the multipoint transmissionand at least one of acknowledgements (ACKs) or non-acknowledgements(NAKs) for the at least one unicast transmission based at least in parton the received indication.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein themultipoint transmission comprises a first broadcast transmission or afirst multicast transmission.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the atleast one channel comprises at least a first channel and a secondchannel, and the multipoint transmission comprises a multiple channelmultipoint transmission over at least the first channel and the secondchannel.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multipoint transmissioncomprises a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN)transmission, a single cell enhanced multimedia broadcast multicastservices (eMBMS) transmission, a single cell point to multipoint(SC-PTM) transmission, or a combination thereof.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the multipoint transmission comprises a coordinatedmultipoint transmission.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein a contentionwindow size for the multipoint transmission is determined based at leastin part on the ACKs or NAKs identified for the at least one unicasttransmission.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmittinga second UE reception status for a second multipoint transmission on theat least one channel of the shared radio frequency spectrum band,wherein the second multipoint transmission is transmitted before themultipoint transmission, wherein a contention window size is determinedbased at least in part on the UE reception status.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: transmitting an identification of broadcastservices of interest; and receiving a trigger to transmit the second UEreception status for the second multipoint transmission.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one channel comprises at least a firstchannel and a second channel, and the multipoint transmission comprisesa multiple channel multipoint transmission over at least the firstchannel and the second channel.
 10. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memorycoupled with the processor; and the processor and the memory configuredto: receive an indication to transmit a UE reception status of amultipoint transmission targeted for a plurality of UEs; receive themultipoint transmission on at least one channel of a shared radiofrequency spectrum band; receive at least one unicast transmissionmultiplexed with the multipoint transmission on the at least one channelof the shared radio frequency spectrum band; and transmit the UEreception status of the multipoint transmission comprising a UE blockerror rate (BLER) for the multipoint transmission and at least one ofacknowledgements (ACKs) or non-acknowledgements (NAKs) for the at leastone unicast transmission based at least in part on the receivedindication.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the multipointtransmission comprises a first broadcast transmission or a firstmulticast transmission.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the atleast one channel comprises at least a first channel and a secondchannel, and the multipoint transmission comprises a multiple channelmultipoint transmission over at least the first channel and the secondchannel.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the multipointtransmission comprises a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network(MBSFN) transmission, a single cell enhanced multimedia broadcastmulticast services (eMBMS) transmission, a single cell point tomultipoint (SC-PTM) transmission, or a combination thereof.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the multipoint transmission comprises acoordinated multipoint transmission.
 15. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein a contention window size for the multipoint transmission isdetermined based at least in part on the ACKs or NAKs identified for theat least one unicast transmission.
 16. The apparatus of claim 10,further comprising: transmitting a second UE reception status for asecond multipoint transmission on the at least one channel of the sharedradio frequency spectrum band, wherein the second multipointtransmission is transmitted before the multipoint transmission, whereina contention window size is determined based at least in part on the UEreception status.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:transmitting an identification of broadcast services of interest; andreceiving a trigger to transmit the second UE reception status for thesecond multipoint transmission.
 18. The apparatus of claim 10, whereinthe at least one channel comprises at least a first channel and a secondchannel, and the multipoint transmission comprises a multiple channelmultipoint transmission over at least the first channel and the secondchannel.
 19. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment(UE), comprising: means for receiving an indication to transmit a UEreception status of a multipoint transmission targeted for a pluralityof UEs; means for receiving the multipoint transmission on at least onechannel of a shared radio frequency spectrum band; means for receivingat least one unicast transmission multiplexed with the multipointtransmission on the at least one channel of the shared radio frequencyspectrum band; and means for transmitting the UE reception status of themultipoint transmission comprising a UE block error rate (BLER) for themultipoint transmission and at least one of acknowledgements (ACKs) ornon-acknowledgements (NAKs) for the at least one unicast transmissionbased at least in part on the received indication.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 19, wherein the multipoint transmission comprises amulticast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) transmission, asingle cell enhanced multimedia broadcast multicast services (eMBMS)transmission, a single cell point to multipoint (SC-PTM) transmission,or a combination thereof.
 21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein themultipoint transmission comprises a first broadcast transmission or afirst multicast transmission.
 22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein theat least one channel comprises at least a first channel and a secondchannel, and the multipoint transmission comprises a multiple channelmultipoint transmission over at least the first channel and the secondchannel.
 23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the multipointtransmission comprises a coordinated multipoint transmission.
 24. Theapparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one channel comprises atleast a first channel and a second channel, and the multipointtransmission comprises a multiple channel multipoint transmission overat least the first channel and the second channel.
 25. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at auser equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by aprocessor to: receive an indication to transmit a UE reception status ofa multipoint transmission targeted for a plurality of UEs; receive themultipoint transmission on at least one channel of a shared radiofrequency spectrum band; receive at least one unicast transmissionmultiplexed with the multipoint transmission on the at least one channelof the shared radio frequency spectrum band; and transmit the UEreception status of the multipoint transmission comprising a UE blockerror rate (BLER) for the multipoint transmission and at least one ofacknowledgements (ACKs) or non-acknowledgements (NAKs) for the at leastone unicast transmission based at least in part on the receivedindication.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25,wherein the multipoint transmission comprises a multicast-broadcastsingle-frequency network (MBSFN) transmission, a single cell enhancedmultimedia broadcast multicast services (eMBMS) transmission, a singlecell point to multipoint (SC-PTM) transmission, or a combinationthereof.